Category: World

Susan Buckner, an American actor best known for her role as Patty Simcox in the 1978 musical “Grease,” died May 2. She was 72. Her death was confirmed by her publicist.

At the age of 25, Buckner was cast in the role of the Rydell High cheerleader, joining a cast that included John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. As Simcox, Buckner played a solider of school spirit, with an iconic cheer cemented into fans’ minds: “Do the splits, give a yell! Show a little spirit for old Rydell! Way to go, red and white! Go Rydell, fight, fight, fight!”

Buckner continued working as an actor with guest credits across several television shows, including “The Love Boat,” “B.J and the Bear” and “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.” She co-starred in the ABC series “When the Whistle Blows.” Among other notable feature credits, Buckner appeared in Wes Craven’s 1981 horror film “Deadly Blessing” opposite Sharon Stone, as well as the 1989 comedy sequel “Police Academy 6: City Under Siege.”

Buckner spent the latter part of her life teaching, directing several children’s theater productions at Pinecrest Elementary School and leading dance classes at Body and Soul Gym in Coral Gables, Fla.

Source: https://variety.com/2024/film/obituaries-people-news/susan-buckner-dead-grease-1235994594/

The red flags start at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport and run all the way along the motorway into the centre of Serbia’s capital.

This is Serbia’s way of showing that it is proud of its “ironclad friendship” with China – and welcoming Xi Jinping to Belgrade.

At the Western City Gate, more commonly known as the Genex Tower, one entire tower is draped in China’s national colours.

Just for good measure, there is a billboard for Hisense, the Chinese home appliances manufacturer which opened a refrigerator factory in Valjevo, western Serbia, last year.

In some parts of Europe, the Chinese president’s itinerary might have raised eyebrows. After all, it is not often that Serbia finds itself as part of a three-stop tour by an international leader of such stature.

But Serbia has been deepening its relationship with China in recent years, even as it continues with negotiations to join the European Union.

Mr Xi is likely to use his trip to highlight his criticisms of Nato. His visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the US airstrikes on China’s embassy in Belgrade. And in an editorial for the Serbian newspaper, Politika, the president made it clear that feelings over that incident still run high.

“We should never forget,” he wrote. “The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself.”

That kind of rhetoric resonates in Serbia, where the vast majority of people oppose Nato membership. That is a key factor in why this stop on Mr Xi’s European tour makes perfect sense.

Commercial connections are also a factor. The two countries signed a free trade agreement last year, building on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in 2016 – the year of Mr Xi’s previous visit to Serbia.

China now claims to be the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Serbia. Its ambassador, Li Ming, says that Hisense, along with mining company Zijin and tyre manufacturer Linglong, provide 20,000 jobs.

UN trade figures actually put China in fifth place on the foreign direct investment list, behind Germany, Italy, the US and Russia.

Nonetheless, the Chinese investments are eye-catching – and only likely to increase. Serbia has just taken delivery of its first Chinese electric high-speed trains. They will eventually run alongside Swiss-made rolling stock on the Belgrade-Budapest railway, which is being reconstructed with Chinese expertise and finance.

And that is just the start. Serbia’s infrastructure minister, Goran Vesic, says Chinese partners will work on other infrastructure, including roads, bridges, tunnels and sewage. “There is really a lot of room for co-operation with Chinese companies,” he told Serbia’s national broadcaster, RTS.

No wonder Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, is planning to personally serve the finest wines his country has to offer to his Chinese counterpart during a banquet in Mr Xi’s honour.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm54pp11x3go

He was appointed deputy director of Pyongyang’s Propaganda and Agitation Department in 1966, where he worked closely with Kim Jong Il, the predecessor and father of current leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea’s former propaganda master Kim Ki Nam has died at the age of 94, said state media.

He died due to old age and “multiple organ dysfunction” for which he had been receiving treatment since 2022, said KCNA.

He had spent decades leading propaganda efforts in the totalitarian state, including building a personality cult around the ruling Kim dynasty.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended his funeral early on Wednesday and paid tribute to the “veteran revolutionary who had remained boundlessly loyal” to the regime, the report added.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency likened him to Nazi Germany’s propaganda boss Joseph Goebbels, widely known for his mantra “repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”.

Kim Ki Nam had no blood relations with the ruling patriarchy despite sharing the family name that is among the most common in North and South Korea.

He was appointed deputy director of Pyongyang’s Propaganda and Agitation Department in 1966, where he worked closely with Kim Jong Il, the predecessor and father of current leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim Ki Nam later rose to lead the department, playing a crucial role in shaping the country’s messaging, as he served what has now become the world’s longest-running family dynasty.

He reportedly had a close relationship with Kim Jong Il, with several media reports describing them as “drinking buddies”.

In the 1970s, he was put in charge of the state mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

He later led initiatives to establish the role of Kim Il Sung – widely seen as North Korea’s founding father – in the country’s history, and to support Kim Jong Il’s succession of the leadership, according to North Korea Leadership Watch, a site on Pyongyang’s political culture.

The propaganda department Kim Ki Nam oversaw maintained a stranglehold over communication and information flows in an out of the state.

South Korean and Western entertainment, including music and movies, are banned.

Rare footage obtained by BBC Korean early this year showed the public sentencing of two teenage boys to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas.

State television had also blurred the trousers of British presenter Alan Titchmarsh in a BBC gardening programme because jeans are seen as a symbol of Western – and specifically American – imperialism in the country.

Kim Ki Nam is one of few North Korean officials to have visited the South, leading a delegation to attend the funeral of former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung in 2009.

One example of how the propaganda machine kicked into action was after the sudden death of Kim Jong Il in 2011. This hastened the ascent of his son, Kim Jong Un, as the country’s leader. The young Kim was believed to be just in his 20s at that time.

“No force on earth can check the revolutionary advance of our party, army and people under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Un,” read one of the first KCNA reports after Kim Jong Il’s death.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c13626468yno

According to the Canadian government, the legislation, dubbed the Online Harms Act, will make online platforms responsible for addressing harmful content and create a safe space to protect people, especially children.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has commented on a Canadian legislation that aims to curb online hate content and create stronger online protection for people in the country, especially children.

The Independent newspaper reported that Musk on Tuesday retweeted a news article, which “appeared to be an untrue claim”, that the legislation would give power to the police to arrest anyone who has ever posted hate speech, even before the bill was introduced in February this year.

“This sounds insane if accurate! @CommunityNotes, please check,” he said.

See more

This sounds insane if accurate!@CommunityNotes, please check https://t.co/RB1Ea0upTk

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2024

Community Notes is the X microblogging platform’s crowdsourced fact checking service.

The bill, dubbed as the Online Harms Act, was introduced by the Justin Trudeau-led Canadian government on February 26.

“The bill would create stronger online protections for children and better safeguard everyone in Canada from online hate and other types of harmful content,” the government had said in an official statement at the time.

“It would hold online platforms, including livestreaming and user-uploaded adult content services, accountable for reducing users’ exposure to harmful content on their platforms and help prevent its spread.”

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-responds-canada-legislation-online-hate-content-2536480-2024-05-08

 

Move comes after launch of AI-enabled laptop drew fire from Republican lawmakers.

The United States has revoked some licenses that allow companies to ship goods, such as chips, to sanctioned Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies.

Some companies were notified on Tuesday that their licenses were revoked effective immediately, according to one person familiar with the matter.

The move comes after the release last month of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor.

The laptop launch drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who said it suggested that the US Department of Commerce had given the green light to Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.

“We have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei,” the Commerce Department said in a statement, declining to specify which ones it had withdrawn.

The move, first reported by Reuters, comes after concerted pressure by Republican China hawks in Congress who have been urging the Biden administration to take tougher action to thwart Huawei.

“This action will bolster US national security, protect American ingenuity, and diminish Communist China’s ability to advance its technology,” Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said in a statement.

Depending on which licenses were revoked, the move could also hurt Huawei which still relies on Intel chips to power its laptops, and could hurt US suppliers that do business with the company.

A spokesperson for Intel declined to comment.

Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Huawei was placed on a US trade restriction list in 2019 amid fears it could spy on Americans, part of a broader effort to handicap China’s ability to bolster its military. Being added to the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping.

Even so, suppliers to Huawei have received licenses worth billions of dollars to sell Huawei goods and technology, including one particularly controversial authorization, issued by the administration of former President Donald Trump, which has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in its laptops since 2020.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/5/8/us-cancels-export-licenses-of-suppliers-to-chinas-huawei

After Monday night’s glitzy Met Gala, celebs fanned out to hit over-the-top after-parties — but even some A-list stars had trouble getting in!

A source tells us that “Unholy” singer Sam Smith — who uses they/them pronouns — was turned away from a Macallan bash at the Mark Hotel.

We’re told the highly recognizable crooner was rebuffed — and told, “You’re not on the list, you can’t come in” — despite their hit-making status, plus the fact they were staying at the luxe hotel.

“They gave them a flat out ‘no.’ They tried three times,” said our spy.

We hear that Smith — who earlier attended the Met Gala with designer beau Christian Cowan — did not throw a diva fit.

“They walked out surprised,” says our source, “But Sam was totally cool and polite.”

Smith shouldn’t feel too bad. Last year, Page Six exclusively reported that Kylie Jenner was turned away from Richie Akiva, Doja Cat and Diddy’s party at the Box because it was at capacity.

In 2016, Page Six also exclusively reported that Tesla mogul Elon Musk was left standing in the rain after being denied from a party at the Top of the Standard.

“Everyone was shouting and trying to help, saying, ‘He’s Elon Musk!’ And they were just like, ‘We don’t care, he’s not on the list,’” said a spy at the time.

Either way, the rejection didn’t put a damper on Smith’s night: The singer was spotted at Dua Lipa’s bash at Rob Toma’s Hearsay in the Meatpacking District, as well as at a number of other Met Gala celebrations.

A source tells us, Smith and Cowan “kept the dance floor smoking hot.”

Also spotted were billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, and a spy said the couple had no less than seven bodyguards with them!

“SNL” star Kenan Thompson, who separated from his wife Christina Evangeline in April 2022, was seen wearing sunglasses on the dance floor and hanging out with three women, says a witness.

Meanwhile, exes Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny were spotted looking cozy at the Après Met 2 Met Gala hosted by Emily Ratajkowski.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2024/05/07/celebrity-news/sam-smith-denied-at-the-door-of-one-met-gala-after-party-as-cardi-b-and-offset-reunite/

The Russian suspect were allegedly trying to help Russia guide rocket strikes to kill high-ranking Ukrainian officials

UKRAINE’S spy agency says it thwarted a Russian assassination plot to “kidnap and kill” President Zelensky after Putin’s spooks allegedly tried to infiltrate his bodyguards.

The SBU exposed a network of agents who it claims were preparing to “eliminate” the Ukrainian leader as well as other senior political and military figures.

In a “inauguration gift to Vladimir Putin”, Ukraine announced it had detained two colonels seeking to “assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky”.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the SBU wrote: “The network, whose activities were supervised by the FSB from Moscow, included two colonels… who “leaked” secret information of the Russian Federation.”

The suspects – from the Administration of State Security of Ukraine (UDO) – are suspected of treason.

They face life imprisonment if convicted.

The UDO is charged with providing security to state officials.

The colonels allegedly planned to use FPV drones, charges for RPG-7 portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket launchers and MON-90 anti-personnel mines.

They aimed to find a spy among Zelensky’s close presidential guard, said the SBU.

“The recruited agent was supposed to observe movements and transmit information.”

They then allegedly planned to launch a missile strike at a Zelensky’s safe house and follow this with kamikaze drone hits.

“After this, it was allegedly planned to launch another missile, including to destroy traces of the drone’s use.”

One of the colonels was allegedly caught travelling to another region of Ukraine to collect drones and explosives.

And he was heard talking to his FSB ‘curator’.

The SBU also revealed the Russian spies were planning to “liquidate” the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, and the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence wing (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov, along with other high-ranking officials.

According to Ukraine’s spy agency, part of the foiled plot – including the planned kidnapping of Budanov – was supposed to happen before Russian Orthodox Easter on May 5.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/11301413/ukraine-foils-assassination-zelensky-putin-spies/

The arrest ended Wan’s years-long criminal career took him from South Korea to Beverly Hills, police say

A globe-trotting jewelry thief has been arrested after an Oceans-11 style diamond ring heist in New York City.

Yaorong Wan, 49, was arrested in Queens on Friday after he allegedly stole $300,000 worth of rings from Cartier and Tiffany stores in Manhattan.

The arrest ended Wan’s years-long criminal career, which took him half way around the globe, from South Korea to Beverly Hills, according to The New York Post.

His string of thefts began in September 2018 when he stole a $330,000 diamond ring from a Tiffany’s store in Seoul, the criminal complaint stated. Last December he allegedly stole a $48,000 diamond ring and a $10,000 watch from a Cartier store in Beverly Hills, the New York Post said.

Wan struck again in New York this March, stealing a $255,000 diamond ring from Tiffany’s. Court documents allege that he managed to switch the diamond ring with another band without the shop assistant noticing after he entered the store at 3pm on 4 March, and asked the woman behind the counter about several pieces of jewellery.

The assistant laid out some pieces of jewelry, and Wan allegedly picked up the $255,000 ring, and looked it over before leaving the store, a criminal complaint said. Only the ring he had handed back to the assistant was not the same one that the employee handed him, the store later discovered.

Wan had replaced the diamond ring with a counterfeit cubic zirconia stone mounted on 18-carat white gold, the complaint said.

When investigators watched surveillance footage from that day, they saw the defendant examine the original ring – a natural diamond mounted on engraved platinum – then allegedly slip it into his palm in a sleight-of-hand, before offloading the fake.

Store workers said they photographed the fake the following day and noticed it did not have any of the engravings or hallmarks on it.

Wan allegedly pulled off a similar trick at a Cartier store in New York eight days later. Wan allegedly walked in about 1:30 pm and asked to look at two engagement rings and two watches, investigators said. The employee handed him the diamond rings, then got distracted, according to the complaint.

Wan allegedly handed back one of the rings, but slipped the other, valued at about $25,000, into his pocket before leaving. He then went to Miami, the New York Post reported, where he allegedly stole a $16,000 watch from a Cartier store on 24 March.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/cartier-tiffany-thief-new-york-b2541027.html

Billionaire Tesla boss has long theorised that artificial intelligence, declining birth rates or a ‘single world government’ could lead to the collapse of civilization

Elon Musk has admitted that he listens to podcasts about the fall of civilization to help him get to sleep at night, despite it being one of his biggest worries.

“I listen to podcasts about the fall of civilizations to fall asleep,” the billionaire Tesla boss said at the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles on Monday.

Mr Musk was asked what keeps him up at night and responded, “Anything that’s a civilizational risk,” including plummeting birth rates and “anything that undermines the foundations of democracy in America or elsewhere” as well as “anything that’s leading us away from a merit-based system.”

The South African-born entrepreneur said he has long theorised that artificial intelligence, declining birth rates or a “single world government” could lead to the collapse of civilization.

This could be digital intelligence replacing biological brains, the tech mogul has said, adding that for civilization to survive, humans will have to merge with machines to avoid becoming irrelevant.

“Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,” he said at a summit in Dubai in 2017.

“It’s mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself – particularly output.”

He added that computers can communicate at “a trillion bits per second”, while humans can only manage around 10 bits per second while typing on a mobile device.

Mr Musk has already begun actualising his theory. In January, he announced that the first human had received a brain implant from his Neuralink company.

The device is designed to “interpret a person’s neural activity, so they can operate a computer or smartphone by simply intending to move – no wires or physical movement are required,” according to Neuralink.

Neuralink says it aims “to redefine the boundaries of human capability,” telling prospective participants that they “could significantly shape the future of interaction and independence, not just for you but for countless others.”

“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” he said in January, referring to the cellular activity between our brains and our nervous systems.

Meanwhile, Mr Musk has also spoken of his fear of “deep AI” that’s “smarter than the smartest human on earth”, labelling it a “dangerous” situation.

“Some high-bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem,” he said in 2017.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-podcasts-fall-civilization-b2541073.html

The porn star took the stand as a witness in the former president’s criminal hush money trial on Tuesday.

Stormy Daniels has claimed Donald and Melania Trump do not share a bed during testimony at his New York hush money trial.

Taking to the stand on Tuesday, Daniels spoke fast and casually as she cracked jokes while talking about her early life, her career and her encounter with Trump.

Discussing their night together, she said the GOP presidential candidate revealed to her: “We don’t sleep in the same room.”

Jurors were treated to plenty of details Tuesday morning.

Trump is accused of asking Michael Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep their alleged affair secret days before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors claim this alleged payment amounted to an illegal campaign contribution.

Trump denies any wrongdoing in the hush money trial and has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges, branding the case a political “witch hunt.”

Daniels also claimed Trump compared her to his “beautiful” daughter on another occasion.

“You remind me of my daughter because she’s smart, blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her,” he allegedly told her.

The adult film acress, who said she prefered to be called Stormy Daniels instead of her real name Stephanie Clifford, was asked to slow down by the Judge Juan Merchan after she tried to crack a joke about her podcast Beyond the Norm, quipping that it’s about “anything beyond the norm.”

Tuesday is probably the date Trump wanted to avoid the most, as potentially embarrassing details about his alleged tryst with Daniels were revealed.

She told jurors that she came out of the bathroom to find Trump lying in bed in a T-shirt and boxers.

“At first I was just startled, like a jump scare. I wasn’t expecting someone to be there,” she said.

After their encounter, she said she was “shaking so hard” she could barely get her shoes on and left “as fast as I could.”

Source: https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/136760/Donald-melania-trump-stormy-daniels-separate-bedrooms

The bill was signed by President Joe Biden on 24 April and gives TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance until 19 January next year to sell the app or face a ban.

TikTok is suing the US government over a law that seeks to force the app’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell it within nine months or ban its use in America.

The popular video-sharing platform is trying to block the recently passed bill, arguing it violates the US constitution, including the first amendment which protects free speech.

The bill, officially known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was signed by President Joe Biden on 24 April and gives TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance until 19 January next year to sell the app to another company or face a ban.

The measure was passed overwhelmingly in Congress last month amid worries among US politicians that China could access data on American people or spy on them with the app.

TikTok denies it has or ever would share US user data, accusing American politicians of pushing “speculative” concerns.

More than one billion people use TikTok worldwide, including 170 million in the US, which is the country with the platform’s biggest audience.

The lawsuit, which was filed by TikTok and ByteDance in Washington on Tuesday at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, called the act an “unprecedented violation” of the first amendment.

It said: “For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide.”

It also said: “There is no question: the act (law) will force a shutdown of TikTok by 19 January 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”

ByteDance has said it “doesn’t have any plan to sell TikTok”. But even if it wanted to, the company would have to get the nod from Beijing, which previously opposed a forced sale of the platform and has signalled its opposition this time around.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/tiktok-sues-us-government-as-it-tries-to-block-law-that-could-ban-app-13131255

The suspected plot is particularly notable because of the alleged involvement of two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, which is tasked with protecting top officials.

Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said it has foiled a Russian plot to kidnap and assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and kill other top Ukrainian officials.

Two serving colonels from the Ukrainian government’s own protection unit have been arrested in a troubling sign of Russian penetration of Ukraine’s security apparatus.

The SBU said the men were part of what it called a “network of agents” that had been working for the Russian security services.

Other intended targets in the conspiracy included Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU, and Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

The plotters had intended to kill the military spy chief before the Orthodox Easter, which this year fell on 5 May, according to a statement by the SBU.

Mr Malyuk said the plot was supposed to be a “gift to Putin before the inauguration” but was “actually a failure of the Russian secret service”.

“But we must not forget that the enemy is strong and experienced, and cannot be underestimated. We will continue to work proactively to ensure that every traitor receives a well-deserved court sentence,” he said.

Russia has previously been accused of multiple plots to kill Mr Zelenskyy since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But the latest scheme is particularly notable because of the alleged involvement of two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, which is tasked with protecting top officials.

Russia’s intelligence services recruited the men before the full-scale war, the Ukrainian security service said.

It claimed that the Russian agents had been trying to find members of the Ukrainian military close to President Zelenskyy’s security detail who would be willing to take him hostage and kill him.

A broader plan involved identifying the location of a senior Ukrainian official and targeting the site with a missile strike, followed by a drone attack and then a second missile strike.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/undercover-plot-to-kidnap-and-kill-volodymyr-zelenskyy-thwarted-ukraines-security-service-says-13131119

The shooting happened early on Tuesday morning, soon after 2am local time (7am UK time) near Bayview Avenue and Lawrence Avenue. A suspect fled the scene in a vehicle, according to authorities.

Police are investigating a shooting at the Toronto mansion of Canadian rapper Drake.

A security guard, who had been standing outside the gates of the property, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after the attack.

The shooting happened early on Tuesday morning, soon after 2am local time (7am UK time) near Bayview Avenue and Lawrence Avenue in the affluent Bridle Path neighbourhood.

A suspect fled the scene in a vehicle, police said in a post on X.

A representative for the Toronto-born five-time Grammy award winner said Drake was not injured, Sky’s partner network NBC News reported.

Police said they could not confirm if Drake was at home at the time of the incident.

But they were “in contact with his team and they are cooperating”, Inspector Paul Krawczyk said.

Police said they were investigating the incident and had not yet established a motive.

Canadian broadcaster CBC reported a police source as saying the guard appeared to have been shot in a drive-by attack.

It added that according to the initial report, the man suffered a gunshot wound to the upper chest and was unconscious when officers arrived.

The victim then underwent surgery in hospital, CBC added.

Drake, 37, is currently embroiled in a high-profile feud with US rapper Kendrick Lamar.

They have both released new diss tracks as the feud between them intensifies with brutal verses dragging in their families.

Drake and 36-year-old Lamar – whose fourth album won a Pulitzer Prize – have for years been exchanging thinly veiled barbs.

But the flurry of diss tracks shows how their animosity has become more personal and a lot less subtle.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/drake-shooting-at-rappers-mansion-leaves-security-guard-seriously-injured-13131166

A 27-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of neglecting a child to cause unnecessary injury after the tragedy on Thursday.

A five-month-old baby who went into cardiac arrest at Legoland Windsor last week has died in hospital.

The child was in a critical condition following the incident at around 1pm on Thursday 2 May.

A 27-year-old woman from Witham, Essex, was arrested on suspicion of neglecting a child to cause unnecessary injury on Friday.

The woman is on police bail until 26 July.

Police have said they are not looking for any other suspects and have asked the public to “avoid speculation about the incident and to respect the boy’s family at this deeply upsetting time”.

The baby boy died in hospital on Sunday, police said today.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Zoe Eele, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “We are investigating a distressing incident involving a very young child at Legoland Windsor earlier this week.

“Firstly, our thoughts are with the family of the boy who sadly died in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. We are supporting them as best we can at this extremely difficult time.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/five-month-old-baby-dies-after-neglect-incident-at-legoland-windsor-13131155

 

Both Stansted and Gatwick airports said the issue was related to e-gates at passport control.

Chaos has been reported at airports across the UK – as several airports have confirmed a nationwide border issue.

Both Stansted and Gatwick airports said the issue was related to e-gates at passport control.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide issue which is impacting passengers being processed through the border.

“Our teams are supporting Border Force with their contingency plans to help resolve the problem as quickly as possible and are on hand to provide passenger welfare. We apologise for any impact this is having to passenger journeys.”

Manchester Airport also confirmed that the UK Border System is down as part of a nationwide outage.

Bristol Airport said on X it had also been affected by the issue as it warned passengers that “e-gates are not available and wait times may be longer than normal”.

A spokesperson for AGS Airports which operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports has told Sky News they are impacted by the nationwide outage of the UK Border system.

The flights schedule means they are not currently affected by any queues, but Glasgow airport is due to have international arrivals later this evening.

The spokesperson said that if the situation continues they would expect passengers to be affected at Glasgow airport but contingency plans are in place and extra staff will be on hand to assist passengers.

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “Some passengers may experience delays at immigration due to a nationwide issue with UK Border Force e-gates.

“Our staff are working with UK Border Force – who operate passport control including the e-gates – to provide assistance to passengers where necessary.”

It said its teams are working to assist passengers in the airport.

A passenger at Gatwick Airport posted a video of the queues, saying on X that there were “lots of children and no water”.

At Gatwick airport, the queue is over an hour long, with people being given no information on how long it may take for them to get through passport control, Sky News understands, while getting people on trains into London has also become an issue.

One passenger at Heathrow Airport said they had already been in the queue for an hour and it was “only getting bigger”.

They added there had been “no communication” on how long it may take to resolve the issue.

Sky News correspondent Sadiya Chowdhury, reporting from Heathrow Airport, said one passenger had been in a queue for about three hours.

Last year, at the end of May, there were similar problems with e-gates and it took a day to resolve the issue as human officers had to check people’s passports while the automated machines were out of service.

The country’s air traffic system also suffered issues in August 2023 when a technical problem disrupted the National Air Traffic Service for several hours.

Stansted Airport said on X: “UK Border Force is experiencing nationwide issues affecting e-gates at a number of airports, including London Stansted.”

They said in a statement to Sky News: “Our operational and customer service colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office fix the issue.”

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/travel-chaos-at-airports-across-uk-as-london-and-manchester-confirm-nationwide-border-issue-13131309

In the world of art conservation, the battle against time is a constant struggle. Masterpieces that have survived centuries are threatened by an invisible enemy: the slow, relentless process of paint degradation. One of the most notorious offenders is a pigment called cadmium yellow. Used by famous artists like Monet, Van Gogh, and Matisse, cadmium yellow was favored for its bright, sunny hues. However, many paintings featuring this pigment have suffered from fading, darkening, and flaking over the years.

For years, detecting this degradation has been a challenge. Visible signs of damage often only appear when it’s too late to prevent irreversible harm. But now, a team of researchers from Duke University has developed a new weapon in the fight to preserve our cultural heritage: a sophisticated technique called pump-probe microscopy that can detect the earliest stages of cadmium yellow deterioration long before the naked eye can spot the damage.

This groundbreaking method uses ultrafast lasers to “see” inside the paint layers without ever touching the surface, providing unprecedented insights into the complex chemical processes that cause masterpieces to decay. By shedding light on the unseen world of paint degradation, pump-probe microscopy is poised to revolutionize the way we protect and preserve priceless works of art.

So, what exactly causes cadmium yellow to degrade? It essentially comes down to chemistry. Cadmium yellow is made of a compound called cadmium sulfide. When exposed to moisture and light, cadmium sulfide can transform into other compounds like cadmium sulfate, leading to color changes and structural damage in the paint.

But now, a team of researchers from Duke University may have found a solution. In their recent study published in JPhys Photonics, they demonstrated a new, non-invasive way to detect the early stages of cadmium yellow degradation using a technique called pump-probe microscopy.

 

Source: https://studyfinds.org/laser-unseen-decay-paintings/

An Australian woman who allegedly killed three people with a poisonous mushroom lunch has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Erin Patterson, 49, is facing three murder charges and two counts of attempted murder over the fatal beef Wellington meal in July last year.

Police also allege she tried to kill her estranged husband on three other occasions.

Ms Patterson has always maintained her innocence.

She has repeatedly said she did not intentionally poison her guests, and on Tuesday in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court was asked to formally enter pleas to the charges against her.

“Not guilty your honour,” she said, appearing via a video link.

The peculiar case has gripped the world and left a tight-knit regional Victorian community reeling.

Ms Patterson hosted a lunch at her home in Leongatha – a two-hour drive south-east of Melbourne – on 29 July. Attending were her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband Ian. Police have said Ms Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson was also invited but could not make it at the last minute.

Hours after eating the meal, all four guests fell ill with what they initially thought was severe food poisoning. Within days, the Patterson couple, both 70, and Ms Wilkinson, 66, had died. Mr Wilkinson, 68, survived, after spending almost three months in hospital.

Police say they believe the four ate death cap mushrooms – which are highly lethal if ingested.

Ms Patterson was named as a suspect by police after she appeared unharmed after the lunch.

After months of investigation, detectives allegedly uncovered another three murder attempts Ms Patterson made against her estranged husband between 2021 and 2022, and in November she was arrested and formally charged with eight offences in total.

Her case will now be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne for trial, with her first hearing scheduled for 23 May.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68967342

Columbia University on Monday canceled its school-wide commencement ceremony after weeks of disruptive and violent anti-Israel protests that brought campus life to a halt.

Instead, the Ivy League school said it would hold “smaller-scale, school-based celebrations.

“We have decided to make the centerpiece of our commencement activities our class days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” the Upper Manhattan school said in an announcement.

School spokesman Ben Chang added, “Holding a large commencement ceremony on our campus presented security concerns that unfortunately proved insurmountable.

“Like our students, we are deeply disappointed with this outcome.”

He said Columbia tried to come up with a different venue to still hold the traditional larger commencement but couldn’t find one large enough. More than 50,000 people typically attend the event.

None of the school’s smaller ceremonies will even be held on its iconic South Lawn, where such events are usually staged — and where hundreds of protesters were recently arrested for refusing to leave a massive tent encampment.

Most of the pared-down ceremonies will now take place about 5 miles away, at Columbia’s sports complex.

“It’s just more cowardice from an administration that’s been spineless throughout this s–t show,” a Jewish undergraduate student at Columbia griped to The Post.

“The last few weeks have been horrible for me, but deep down I still love this place,” he said. “It’s a beautiful campus, and I was really looking forward to graduating in the heart of it. I guess the pro-Hamas crowd got the final, ‘F–k you.’ ”

Ari Rosen, a 26-year-old student graduating from Columbia Dental School, added, “I lost my [undergraduate] graduation four years ago because of COVID, but then I told myself at least I’ll be able to graduate from dental school at Columbia.

“This was always on the back of my mind, and now to wake up to this news is really unexpected,” Rosen said of the cancellation. “This wasn’t just four years of hard work. This was eight years, undergraduate and dental school. I worked really hard for this.

“I thought it would be a nice celebration at the undergrad campus. My parents were going to come for it. To see it shut down for these protests is upsetting.”

The decision to nix the ceremony was made after consulting with graduating students, the university said.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/05/06/us-news/columbia-cancels-university-wide-graduation-ceremony-after-weeks-of-anti-israel-protests/

In an interview with PTI Videos here, Maldivian Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal emphasised on the historical relations between his country and India.

With the number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives dwindling amidst strained bilateral ties, the archipelago nation’s tourism minister on Monday urged Indians to contribute to the country’s economy which is dependent on tourism.
In an interview with PTI Videos here, Maldivian Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal emphasised on the historical relations between his country and India.

“We have a history. Our newly elected government also wants to work together (with India). We always promote peace and a friendly environment. Our people and the government will give a warm welcome to Indian arrivals. As the Tourism Minister, I want to tell Indians to please be a part of Maldives’ tourism. Our economy depends on tourism,” he said.

A full-blown backlash was directed at the Maldives following derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three Maldivian officials after Modi posted photos and video of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on India’s west coast on January 6 on his X handle.

Scores of Indians, including multiple celebrities, cancelled their reservations and dropped plans to visit Maldives. The tourism arrival statistics reflected how from being a top visitor country, India’s position went down from topmost to sixth position after January.

According to a sun.mv report published on Monday, the number of tourist arrivals from India declined by 42 per cent in the first four months of this year compared to the first four months of last year.

At the start of this year, India was the top tourist market for the Maldives. Shortly into the year, India dropped to sixth place amongst the top tourist markets, the news portal reported.

According to Tourism Ministry statistics, Maldives recorded a total of 43,991 tourist arrivals from India as of May 4. Between January and April of last year, Maldives recorded 73,785 tourist arrivals. This year, the number stands at 42,638.

The report attributed the steep decline in Indian tourists to the strained relations between India and the Maldives after the new administration led by President Mohamed Muizzu assumed office in November last year.

The India-Maldives ties have come under stress as President Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president in November that he will keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/please-be-part-of-our-tourism-maldives-urges-india-amid-strained-ties-5602280

Travel agents are concerned the move might deter Indian travellers, who top arrival charts

A fortnight after Sri Lanka switched to a new visa issuing system, authorities are facing a backlash over higher visa costs that could deter tourists, “Indian involvement”, and “corruption” in the subject minister’s push to outsource visa processing.

Beginning April 17, 2024, Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration directed travellers to a new visa portal, run by VFS Global, for online visa application under various categories. The formerly used Electronic Travel Authorisation system, known for its speed and accessibility, was scrapped.

The move followed a Cabinet decision last year, based on a proposal from Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, to appoint GBS Technology Services & IVS Global – FZCO and VFS Global as authorised agents for the online submission of visa applications for foreigners visiting Sri Lanka. Subsequently, the three companies formed a consortium and signed an agreement with Sri Lankan authorities, according to officials.

With the introduction of the new system, Sri Lanka’s visa nearly doubled, along with the introduction of a $18.5 service fee and $5 convenience fee charged by VFS Global. Even as users pointed to the absence of a single-entry, 30-day tourist visa option, a recent video recording of a visiting Sri Lankan complaining that “Indians” were handling visa issuance at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo sparked a fresh controversy. The video clip of the angry man went viral, prompting the Indian High Commission in Colombo to clarify that the companies involved are “not India based or Indian and are headquartered elsewhere”. “Any reference to India in this context is unwarranted,” a statement issued on May 2 said.

GBS Technology Services is Singapore based, and partners with IVS Global Services, a company incorporated in Maharashtra in 2010. Now a global outsourcing and technology services provider, IVS also processes Indian visa applications of Sri Lankans. VFS Global, founded in India in 2001, is currently headquartered in Zurich and Dubai, and was acquired by American private equity firm Blackstone in 2021.

Those operating in Sri Lanka’s crucial tourism industry see the steep hike in visa fees in conflict with the government’s stated aim of booting tourist arrivals. “From an industry point of view, we have no problem with opting for a technologically advanced system. But we don’t understand why the old system, which was simple and effective, is being replaced with much higher costs to visitors,” said Nishad Wijetunga, President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators. Along with other industry representatives, he wrote to President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently, urging him to intervene and restore “a competitive, user-friendly visa process through a government-operated website”, to sustain the “positive momentum” seen in the country’s tourism sector.

Impact on Indian tourists

Meanwhile, Indian tourists, who have consistently topped Sri Lanka’s arrival charts — 3,02,844 or 20 % of total arrivals in 2023 — have encountered a peculiar problem navigating the new system.

In a bid to encourage tourism and revive the island’s crisis-hit economy, Sri Lanka in October 2023 waived visa fees for tourists from India and six other countries — China, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan. The arrangement has since been extended. Moreover, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister Harin Fernando has been organising road shows in India, asking tourists to visit in large numbers.

Tibetan and Uyghur activists on Sunday unfurled the Tibetan flag and demanded justice for alleged human rights violations suffered by Uyghurs above Chinese President Xi Jinping’s motorcade.

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UPDATE: After 2.5+hrs 2 SFT activists have been detained after they deployed 2 banners + Tibetan Flag

But their message has already been made clear: Xi is committing genocide in Tibet.

A unidentified man was seen liaising with the police as the activists were detained. pic.twitter.com/pYLFQ1sWox

— Students for a Free Tibet (@SFTHQ) May 4, 2024

Xi Jinping arrived in France on a state visit and will later visit eastern European nations Hungary and Serbia, marking his first European visit in five years.

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🚨 BREAKING 🚨

SFT unfurled a giant banner on an overpass above Xi’s motorcade as he was arriving in Paris. In China, Xi may be able to ignore the plight of Tibetans, but in France we are going to expose his lies and guarantee that Xi cannot forget us. #FreeTibet #TibetLibre pic.twitter.com/YZt3gt1aoS

— Students for a Free Tibet (@SFTHQ) May 5, 2024

Following Xi’s arrival, campaigners for Tibet and Uyghur took to the streets demanding justice for those being allegedly oppressed by the Chinese government in those regions.

Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), who said that they were behind the unfurling of banners, later said that 2 activists who are part of the group were detained hours after they unfurled the banners.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged French President Emmanuel Macron to publicly address issues related to Uyghurs, Tibetans and Hong Kongers during Xi’s visit to Paris and demanded that the individuals who have been arbitrarily detained be released immediately. The demand was put forth by Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist and recipient of the Sakharov Prize.

Tibetan activists also demanded that Macron should raise concerns about Tibet and Hong Kong when he meets Xi and said that alleged repression faced by Tibetan children in boarding schools and the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong should be discussed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in France Sunday on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to warn his counterpart against backing Russia in the conflict over Ukraine.

Source: https://www.news18.com/world/watch-tibetan-activists-greet-xi-jinping-in-paris-by-unfurling-tibet-flag-above-his-motorcade-8879373.html

 

Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and put him on a wanted list, the state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, an announcement Ukraine dismissed as evidence of Moscow’s “desperation”.

TASS reported that the Russian Interior Ministry database showed Zelenskiy was on a wanted list but gave no further details.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry noted Russian President Vladimir Putin was himself subject to arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant.

“We would like to remind you that unlike the worthless Russian announcements, an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes is quite real, and subject to implementation in 123 countries,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said the Russian announcement was “evidence of the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which can think of no other way to attract attention”.

Russia has issued arrest warrants for a number of Ukrainian and other European politicians since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian police in February put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania’s culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments.

Russia also issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court prosecutor who last year prepared Putin’s war crimes warrant.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-puts-ukraines-zelenskiy-wanted-list-tass-reports-2024-05-04

An hour-long session of hugs could pay for a bale of hay, but officials are warning against the practice after an outbreak among dairy herds in nine US states.

A cow-cuddling craze in the US could be under threat due to a bird flu outbreak.

The social media trend involves punters paying to snuggle up to a herd – while also helping small farmers cover feed bills.

For visitors, it can be therapeutic.

However, cuddles with cattle could be under threat after bird flu was confirmed among dairy herds in nine US states.

Scientists believe it might actually be more widespread across the country’s 26,000 licensed dairy farms.

In Texas, a dairy worker has tested positive for the virus but the risk of human infection remains low, according to government officials.

Those same officials are urging cattle and dairy farmers to limit outside visitors.

New sanitation measures and access limitations have been introduced in the state of Michigan.

While the emergency response order does not explicitly prohibit cow-cuddling, officials are not recommending it.
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Director of Michigan’s department of agriculture and rural development, Tim Boring said: “From a human to animal health standpoint, now is not a good time to cuddle cows.

“This is to protect the cows and people,” he added.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/bird-flu-outbreak-could-threaten-us-cow-cuddling-craze-13128725

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a rocket attack claimed by Hamas armed wing, near the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where Palestinian health officials said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday.

Hamas’s armed wing claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers.

Israel’s military said 10 projectiles were launched from Rafah in southern Gaza towards the area of the crossing, which it said was now closed to aid trucks going into the coastal enclave. Other crossings remained open.

Hamas’ armed wing said it fired rockets at an Israeli army base by the crossing, but did not confirm where it fired them from. Hamas media quoted a source close to the group as saying the commercial crossing was not the target.

More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

Shortly after the Hamas attack, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Rafah killing three people and wounding several others, Palestinian medics said.

The Israeli military confirmed the counter-strike, saying it struck the launcher from which the Hamas projectiles were fired, as well as a nearby “military structure”.

“The launches carried out by Hamas adjacent to the Rafah Crossing … are a clear example of the terrorist organisation’s systematic exploitation of humanitarian facilities and spaces, and their continued use of the Gazan civilian population as human shields,” it said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-claims-responsibility-attack-israel-gaza-border-crossing-casualties-2024-05-05

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused Democratic rival President Joe Biden of running a “Gestapo administration” in a private address to donors in which he also attacked prosecutors involved in his criminal indictments, according to a recording heard by U.S. media outlets.

Trump, whose own rhetoric has drawn accusations of fascist tendencies from civil rights groups and other critics, made the comparison with the Nazi police in Germany’s World War Two regime at a donor retreat Saturday night at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

The comments came after Trump reprised his complaint that the multiple indictments against him were politically motivated. He had just concluded 11 days of a New York hush money trial in which he is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment made to a porn star.

“These people are running a Gestapo administration,” Trump said, according to an audio recording heard by the New York Times and the Washington Post. “And it’s the only thing they have. And it’s the only way they’re going to win, in their opinion, and it’s actually killing them. But it doesn’t bother me.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the reported remarks.

In a statement, White House spokesman Andrew Bates sought to contrast Biden’s conduct in office with Trump’s latest remark, accusing the former president of echoing fascist rhetoric, “lunching with neo-Nazis and fanning debunked conspiracy theories that have cost brave police officers their lives.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-accuses-biden-running-gestapo-administration-2024-05-05

Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station’s local operations on Sunday, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters.

Video circulated online showed plainclothes officers dismantling camera equipment in a hotel room, which the Al Jazeera source said was in East Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, saying it threatened national security.

Al Jazeera said the move was a “criminal action” and the accusation that the network threatened Israeli security was a “dangerous and ridiculous lie” that put its journalists at risk.

It reserved the right to “pursue every legal step”.

The network has criticised Israel’s military operation in Gaza, from where it has reported throughout the war.

“The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” Netanyahu posted on social media following a unanimous cabinet vote.

A government statement said Israel’s communications minister signed orders to “act immediately”, but at least one lawmaker who supported the closure said Al Jazeera could still try to block it in court.

The measure, the statement said, includes closing Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, cutting off the channel from cable and satellite companies and blocking its websites. It did not mention Al Jazeera’s Gaza operations.

Israeli satellite and cable television providers suspended Al Jazeera broadcasts following the government decision.

There was no official comment from the Qatari government, which deferred to Al Jazeera.

The network last month complained of “a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera”.

It said Israel deliberately targeted and killed several of its journalists, including Samer Abu Daqqa and Hamza AlDahdooh, both killed in Gaza during the conflict. Israel has said it does not target journalists.

Qatar established Al Jazeera in 1996 and views it as a way to bolster its global profile.

“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information,” the network said in a statement. “Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences.”

The UN Human Rights Office also criticised the closure.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-cabinet-moves-close-al-jazeeras-local-operations-2024-05-05

Hill’s breakout role was Yosser Hughes in the drama series Boys From The Blackstuff.

Actor Bernard Hill, who played roles in Lord Of The Rings and Titanic, has died aged 79, his agent has confirmed.

Hill also featured as Yosser Hughes in the iconic drama series Boys from the Blackstuff.

He was given a number of awards for his role as King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic.

Hill was born in Blackley, Manchester, in 1944 and graduated with a diploma in theatre in 1970.

He was married to fellow actor Marianna Hill, with whom he shared a son. His agent Lou Coulson said he died in the early hours of Sunday.

His management company added in a statement: “Bernard was a client of Optimism Entertainment for many years and was a true gentleman and extremely talented artist.

“He was an amazing man and we are saddened to hear of his passing. Our deepest condolences go out to his family. We will miss him greatly ”

Hill will return to TV on Sunday night starring in the second series of Martin Freeman’s BBC drama The Responder.

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said: “Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent.

“From Boys From The Blackstuff, to Wolf Hall, The Responder, and many more, we feel truly honoured to have worked with Bernard at the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”

He was due to attend Comic Con in Liverpool on Saturday but the event announced that day he had to withdraw at the last minute because of his partner becoming “very ill”.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/bernard-hill-lord-of-the-rings-and-titanic-actor-dies-aged-79-13129852

Bodies found in a well near where the trio disappeared have now been formally identified by their families.

Two Australian brothers and a US tourist who went missing in Mexico were shot dead by thieves who wanted their truck’s tyres, according to prosecutors.

Relatives of Jake and Callum Robinson and Jack Carter Rhoad have identified the three bodies.

They were dumped in a remote 15m-deep (50ft) well.

The trio went missing a week ago while on a surfing trip near the northern city of Ensenada – not far from the US border – and had posted photos on social media of isolated beaches.

Thieves likely saw their truck and tents and wanted their tyres but the men probably resisted, said prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez.

She said the bodies were taken to “a site that is extremely hard to get to” in Baja California state.

The well, near where their truck and tent were found on Thursday, also contained a fourth body that had been there much longer.

It took two hours to winch the bodies out, said Ms Andrade Ramírez.

She said the same thieves may also have dumped the fourth body there.

Three men are being questioned over the killings.

After the bodies were found, surfers gathered in Ensenada, the nearest city, to protest at what they say is a lack of safety in the state.

“They only wanted to surf – we demand safe beaches,” said a sign held by one woman.

Some of them later took part in a ‘paddle-out’ ceremony in remembrance of the three men, forming a circle with their boards in the sea and throwing flowers.

In a Facebook message last week, Jake and Callum’s mother said she hadn’t been in touch with them since 27 April.

The post, on 1 May, said they were meant to check into an Airbnb in the resort town of Rosarito but “did not show up”.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/australian-brothers-and-us-tourist-who-went-missing-on-surfing-trip-in-mexico-shot-dead-by-thieves-13130279

After losing 474 council seats and their West Midlands mayor, Mark Harper calls for everyone to get behind the prime minister ahead of a national vote.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper has insisted Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are “up for the fight” of a general election, despite their terrible results in this week’s local contests.

The party lost 474 councillors across the country after Thursday’s vote, as well as high-profile mayoral races – seeing the West Midlands mayor Andy Street booted out by Labour in a tightly fought contest.

Yet Mr Harper insisted the best response for the Tories was to support the prime minister and prepare for the general election, which is expected later this year.

Talking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the minister said: “It is always incredibly disappointing when you lose hardworking councillors, police and crime commissioners and fantastic mayors like Andy Street… it was a testament to him that that result was so close… so I can understand people being disappointed by that.

“But I think the key thing that people need to do now is get behind the prime minister, focus on the things the government is focused on delivering – the British people’s priorities around the economy, dealing with migration – and get out there and take that fight to the country ahead of the general election.”

Pointing to analysis by Sky News’ election expert Professor Michael Thrasher, which showed Labour was on course to be the largest party after the general election, but not have an overall majority, Mr Harper said his rivals hadn’t “sealed the deal with the public – so that means there is a fight to be had”.

He added: “The prime minister is up for that fight, I am up for that fight and I know the Conservative Party is up for it.

“We have to focus on delivering on people’s priorities – that’s what the prime minister is doing – and then we have to get out there and sell that message and set out what we would do after the election with a Conservative victory.”

Some had thought a poor set of local election results could see an internal uprising against Mr Sunak and the possibility of a leadership challenge ahead of the next election.

But former Tory minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns – who has already written a letter of no confidence in the prime minister – told Sky News there was no momentum in the party to oust their leader again.

“No MPs are not putting the letters in, and it is not going anywhere,” she told Trevor Phillips. “I’ve tried, as you know. So I think now we’ve got to take the fight to Labour.”

However, she did appeal to Mr Sunak to bring Boris Johnson back to the “frontline of politics” and a return to “real common sense Conservatism” in order to win back voters.

Asked about outgoing Conservative mayor Mr Street’s appeal to the party not to “drift” to the right, Dame Andrea called him a “leftie” and pointed to the party’s one success story out of the local elections – Lord Ben Houchen retaining his seat as Tees Valley mayor.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/rishi-sunak-has-everything-to-fight-for-despite-tory-thrashing-in-local-elections-says-mark-harper-13129629

In some cities in southern Rio Grande do Sul, water levels are at their highest in 150 years, according to the Brazilian Geological Service.

Mass flooding in Brazil has killed 75 people with more than 100 people still missing, local authorities said on Sunday.

More than 80,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since downpours began across Rio Grande do Sul in the south of the country on Monday.

Some 15,000 people have sought refuge in schools, gyms, and other temporary shelters and 800,000 are believed to be without water.

The flooding has caused landslides, collapsed bridges, and seen roads transformed into rivers throughout the state.

On Saturday in the town of Canoas, people were seen standing up to their shoulders in muddy water waiting to be pulled to safety.

In some parts of the state, 11.8 inches (30cm) of rain has fallen in less than a week.

And in certain cities, water levels are at their highest in 150 years, according to the Brazilian Geological Service.

The authority said this was the worst flooding to hit the state in more than 80 years, surpassing those in 1941.

State governor Eduardo Leite said on Sunday: “I repeat and insist: the devastation to which we are being subjected is unprecedented.”
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He warned earlier in the week that a “kind of ‘Marshall Plan'” will be needed to rebuild affected areas.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has travelled to Rio Grande do Sul to discuss rescue efforts with the governor.

Pope Francis mentioned the devastation during mass at the Vatican on Sunday.

“May the Lord welcome the dead and comfort their families and those who had to abandon their homes,” he said.

The state is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created periods of intense rains and others of drought.

Scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/brazil-flooding-death-toll-rises-to-75-with-80000-evacuated-13130090

Counties where avian flu has been detected in wild mammals since 2022

A polar bear in the Arctic, red foxes in Europe, penguins in Antarctica and a wide range of other wild animals have been infected with the flu virus strain currently spreading in dairy cattle in the U.S.

Why it matters: Up to 75% of new and emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals, and most of those can be traced back to wildlife. Monitoring wild animals for diseases can help scientists identify emerging health threats.

• Government agencies in the U.S. and around the world monitor wild birds for avian influenza, which spreads in bird populations without causing symptoms, and select animals for other pathogens.
• But on the whole, there is “very little surveillance of wildlife for any diseases,” says Thomas Gillespie, a disease ecologist at Emory University. An exception is animals that are commercially important — like deer that people pay to hunt.

Catch up quick: Outbreaks of avian flu in farmed poultry and wild birds started to increase around the world in 2020.

• Soon after, the virus started to kill mammals — seals from Chile to Russia to Maine, red foxes in Europe and the U.S,. sea lions in Peru and other species.
• Bird flu has affected nearly 20 wild mammal species in the U.S. since 2022, including brown bears, skunks, mountain lions and a bottlenose dolphin in Florida.

Now cows are being infected. (They become ill but recover with treatment).

• There’s been one mild human infection detected so far, in a person exposed to dairy cattle, but some researchers suspect not all cases in workers are being spotted.
• A report published Friday suggests that may be “the first detected case of the H5N1 virus transmitting from a mammal to a person,” STAT’s Helen Branswell reported.
• The CDC has said the risk to the general public is low.

The intrigue: “We’ve been seeing bird-to-mammal transmission events in a diversity of wild and domestic animals for about the last 4-5 years,” Gillespie says.

• Scientists are watching for evidence of the virus being transmitted from one mammal to another, which increases the risk of the virus for humans.
• The USDA has confirmed this version of influenza is being transmitted between different cows in the same herd — and between herds when they are moved — but exactly how is still an open question.
• There is also some evidence the virus was transmitted from mammal-to-mammal in farmed minks.

Wild animals are in general thought to get the virus by eating an infected bird or being exposed to its feces.

Source : https://www.axios.com/2024/05/04/bird-flu-wildlife-mammals

Berkshire Hathaway reported Saturday a huge year-over-year increase in operating earnings in the first quarter, while its cash holdings bubbled to record levels.

The Warren Buffett-led conglomerate posted an operating profit — which encompasses earnings from the company’s wholly owned businesses — that surged 39% to $11.22 billion from the year-earlier period.

That gain was led by a 185% year-on-year increase in insurance underwriting earnings to $2.598 billion from just $911 million. Geico earnings swelled 174% to $1.928 billion from $703 million a year prior. Insurance investment income also swelled 32% to more than $2.5 billion.

Berkshire’s railroad business raked in $1.14 billion in profit, down slightly from the first quarter of 2023. Its energy division saw earnings nearly double to $717 million from $416 million a year prior.

First-quarter net earnings, which include fluctuations from Berkshires stock investments, fell 64% to $12.7 billion. Buffett calls these unrealized investing gains (or losses) each quarter meaningless and misleading, but the unique conglomerate is required to report these numbers based on generally accepted accounting principles.

Record cash hoard

The company’s cash hoard reached a record high of $188.99 billion, up from $167.6 billion in the fourth quarter. That massive holding, well above a CFRA Research estimate of more than $170 billion, points to Buffett’s inability to find a suitable major acquisition target — which he has lamented in recent years.

To be sure, Berkshire did trim its Apple stake by 13%. The iPhone maker remained Berkshire’s largest stock holding, however.

Berkshire also bought back $2.6 billion in stock, up from $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The report comes ahead the company’s annual shareholder meeting, known as “Woodstock for Capitalists.” Buffett will answer questions from shareholders on everything ranging from the conglomerate’s holdings as well as his thoughts on investing and the economy.

This will also be the first annual meeting since the death of Vice Chairman Charlie Munger in November.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/04/berkshire-hathaway-brka-earnings-q1-2024.html

There was “no threat” to the White House after the crash, officials said.

A vehicle traveling “at a high rate of speed” crashed into a gate at the White House complex late Saturday, killing the driver, a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said.

There was “no threat” to the White House after the vehicle crashed into a barricade just before 10:30 p.m., officials said in a statement.

“Security protocols were implemented as officers cleared the vehicle and attempted to render aid to the driver who was discovered deceased,” the statement said.

The Washington Metropolitan Police will investigate the crash alongside the Secret Service.

“At this time, the incident is being investigated only as a traffic crash by MPD’s Major Crash Investigations Unit,” police officials said in a statement.

Source : https://abcnews.go.com/US/vehicle-crashes-white-house-gate-killing-driver-secret/story?id=109936751

As gold surged this year to its highest price ever, Xena Lin joined the frenzy by making monthly purchases of gold “beans,” pebble-like morsels of the precious metal.

For Ms. Lin, a 25-year-old administrative worker in southern China, the $80 beans — small enough to rest on a fingertip and weighing about one-thirtieth of an ounce — were an affordable way to buy into the gold excitement without splurging for jewelry, gold bars or coins. She had dabbled with investing in stocks in the past, but she said buying gold, especially in this fun way, inspired her to continue investing.

“I’m still working hard to save more,” Ms. Lin said.

Often considered a safe investment during times of geopolitical and economic turmoil, gold has soared in price in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza. But gold’s climb to highs above $2,400 per ounce has proved more resilient, and lasted longer, because of China.

Chinese consumers have flocked to gold as their confidence in traditional investments like real estate or stocks has faltered. At the same time, the country’s central bank has steadily added to its gold reserves, while whittling away at its holdings of U.S. debt. And throwing fuel on the fire are Chinese speculators betting that there is still room for appreciation.

China already held considerable sway in gold markets. But the country’s influence has become more pronounced during this latest bull run — a nearly 50 percent increase in the global price since late 2022. It continued to scale new heights despite factors that traditionally make gold a comparatively less appealing investment: higher interest rates and a strong U.S. dollar.

Last month, gold prices vaulted higher even after the Federal Reserve signaled that it would keep higher interest rates for longer. And it has continued to appreciate even as the dollar has risen against almost every major currency in the world this year.

Prices have pulled back to around $2,300 per ounce, but there is a growing sentiment that the gold market is governed no longer by economic factors but by the whims of Chinese buyers and investors.

“China is unquestionably driving the price of gold,” said Ross Norman, chief executive of MetalsDaily.com, a precious-metals information platform based in London. “The flow of gold to China has gone from solid to an absolute torrent.”

Gold consumption in the country rose 6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the China Gold Association. It came on the heels of a 9 percent increase last year.

Gold investing became more alluring as traditional investments turned lackluster. China’s real estate sector, the destination for most families’ savings, remains in crisis. Investor confidence in the country’s stock markets has not fully returned. A string of big investment funds aimed at the wealthy toppled after failed bets on real estate.

With few better alternatives, money flowed into Chinese funds that traded in gold, and many young people took to collecting beans in tiny quantities.

Online merchants are aggressively hawking gold beans. On Alibaba’s Taobao, one of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms, a merchant sold gold beans on a livestream — a blend of the Home Shopping Network and Amazon. She said buying beans was “like shopping, but an investment.”

The tiny beans came in five shapes, including one that resembled a peanut and another like a persimmon. Paying $87 per bean, a person could buy into the gold boom for the price of a hot pot meal, she said.

Kelly Zhong, a teacher in Beijing, started buying gold in 2020 at the outset of the pandemic. She has amassed more than two pounds of gold bars, but she has also invested in the metal through exchange-traded funds. She said she was inspired by an old saying: “Jade in prosperous times, gold in troubled times.”

As she felt the world become more chaotic, Ms. Zhong added to her stockpile, betting that gold prices would only climb. She has stopped buying, but she is not ready to sell. She sees no reason to. The Chinese economy is still struggling, and neither real estate nor stocks seem like a sound investment.

“The money has to go somewhere,” she said.

Another major buyer of gold in China is the country’s central bank. In March, the People’s Bank of China added to its gold reserves for a 17th straight month. Last year, the bank bought more gold than any other central bank in the world, adding more to its reserves than it had in nearly 50 years.

Beijing is buying up gold to diversify its reserve funds and reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar, long considered the most important currency to hold in reserve. China has been reducing its U.S. Treasury holdings for more than a decade. As of March, China had about $775 billion worth of U.S. debt, down from about $1.1 trillion in 2021.

When China increased its gold holdings in the past, it bought domestically using renminbi, said Guan Tao, global chief economist at BOC International in Beijing. But this time, he said, the bank is using foreign currencies to buy gold — effectively reducing its exposure to the U.S. dollar and other currencies.

Many central banks, including China, starting acquiring gold after the U.S. Treasury Department took the rare step of freezing Russia’s dollar holdings under sanctions imposed on Moscow. Other American allies imposed similar restrictions for their currencies.

Source : https://dnyuz.com/2024/05/05/china-is-buying-gold-like-theres-no-tomorrow

Bernard Hill, the actor known for playing King Théoden in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Captain Edward Smith in “Titanic,” has died. He was 79.

Hill died early on Sunday morning, his agent Lou Colson confirmed to Variety. He was with his fiancée Alison and his son Gabriel. No cause of death was given.

Hill first came to prominence as Yosser Hughes in Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 miniseries “Boys From the Blackstuff”; his character was known for his “gizza job” catchphrase. That same year, he portrayed Sergeant Putnam in the Richard Attenborough-directed film “Gandhi.” Hill appeared in multiple British television series during the ’70s and ’80s, including “I, Claudius,” “Crown Court,” “Rooms,” “Fox” and “Jackanory.”

In 1997, Hill played Captain Smith in James Cameron’s “Titanic,” which won 11 Oscars. He then joined Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” franchise as King Théoden, appearing in 2002’s “The Two Towers” and 2003’s “The Return of the King,” which also nabbed 11 Oscars. Hill appeared in two of the three films with the most Academy Awards of all time to date (“Ben-Hur” also achieved the record).

In 2015, Hill played Duke of Norfolk, an uncle of Anne Boleyn, in the BBC miniseries “Wolf Hall,” which won the BAFTA for best drama series.

Hill was born on Dec. 17, 1944, in Blackley, Manchester. During his acting career, which spanned over five decades, he worked on other notable films such as “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” (1996), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1999), “True Crime” (1999), “The Scorpion King” (2002), “Valkyrie” (2008) and “ParaNorman” (2012).

Source : https://variety.com/2024/film/news/bernard-hill-dead-lord-of-the-rings-1235992436

Since then, the Ukrainian military says dozens of North Korean missiles have been fired by Russia into its territory. They have killed at least 24 people and injured more than 70.

For all the recent talk of Kim Jong Un preparing to start a nuclear war, the more immediate threat is now North Korea’s ability to fuel existing wars and feed global instability.

Ms Kimachuk works for Conflict Armament Research (CAR), an organisation that retrieves weapons used in war, to work out how they were made. But it wasn’t until after she had finished photographing the wreckage of the missile and her team analysed its hundreds of components, that the most jaw-dropping revelation came.

It was bursting with the latest foreign technology. Most of the electronic parts had been manufactured in the US and Europe over the past few years. There was even a US computer chip made as recently as March 2023. This meant that North Korea had illicitly procured vital weapons components, snuck them into the country, assembled the missile, and shipped it to Russia in secret, where it had then been transported to the frontline and fired – all in a matter of months.

“This was the biggest surprise, that despite being under severe sanctions for almost two decades, North Korea is still managing to get its hands on all it needs to make its weapons, and with extraordinary speed,” said Damien Spleeters, the deputy director at CAR.

“I never thought I would see North Korean ballistic missiles being used to kill people on European soil,” he said. He and his team at RUSI have been tracking the shipment of North Korean weapons to Russia ever since Mr Kim met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia in September of last year to strike a suspected arms deal.

Using satellite imagery, they have been able to observe four Russian cargo ships shuttling back and forth between North Korea and a Russian military port, loaded with hundreds of containers at a time.

In total RUSI estimates 7,000 containers have been sent, filled with more than a million ammunition shells and grad rockets – the sort that can be fired out of trucks in large volleys. Their assessments are backed up by intelligence from the US, UK and South Korea, though Russia and North Korea have denied the trade.

Buying and firing

But it is the arrival of ballistic missiles on the battlefield that has concerned Mr Byrne and his colleagues the most, because of what they reveal about North Korea’s weapons programme.

Since the 1980s North Korea has sold its weapons abroad, largely to countries in the North Africa and the Middle East, including Libya, Syria and Iran. They have tended to be old, Soviet-style missiles with a poor reputation. There is evidence that Hamas fighters likely used some of Pyongyang’s old rocket-propelled grenades in their attack last 7 October.

But the missile fired on 2 January, that Ms Kimachuk took apart, was seemingly Pyongyang’s most sophisticated short-range missile – the Hwasong 11 – capable of travelling up to 700km (435 miles).

Although the Ukrainians have downplayed their accuracy, Dr Jeffrey Lewis, an expert in North Korean weapons and non-proliferation at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, says they appear to be not much worse than the Russian missiles.

The advantage of these missiles is that they are extremely cheap, explained Dr Lewis. This means you can buy more and fire more, in the hope of overwhelming air defences, which is exactly what the Russians appear to be doing.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68933778

When North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un released his latest song two weeks ago, surely he couldn’t have foreseen it becoming a hit on TikTok.

But the propaganda tune has gone viral online with Gen Z users bopping around to the synthy-electro pop.

Most are clearly quite oblivious to the Korean lyrics praising a man who’s vowed to “thoroughly annihilate the US” and launched dozens of ballistic missiles.

“Let’s sing Kim Jong Un, the great leader/ Let’s brag about Kim Jong Un, our friendly father,” the song goes.

It’s just a really great tune, TikTokkers say.

“Taylor Swift was not expecting to get blown out of the water right after dropping her new album,” one fan joked online.

“Wait, this slaps”, “This song needs a Grammy”, “It’s so dystopian in the catchiest way” – they are just some of the enthused comments under TikTok videos.

But the sunny pop hides something more sinister, experts say.

How to craft a propaganda hit

Friendly Father is just the latest in a line of propaganda pop songs churned out by the Communist state in the past 50 years.

It’s peppy, bright-tempoed and dangerously catchy – not that much different from Western pop hits.

But there is a certain Soviet-era tinge to it; Gen Z users describe it as “Abba-coded”, a reference to the Swedish superband.

“In this case, the song has Abba written all over it,“ says Peter Moody, a North Korea analyst at Korea University.

“It’s upbeat, it could not be more catchy, and a rich set of orchestral-sounding sequences could not be more prominent,” he says.

But there’s more than just commercial considerations at play when writing a chart-topper in North Korea – authorities want an earworm that penetrates minds.

There’s no space for abstract phrasing or timing that’s overly complicated , says Alexandra Leonzini, a Cambridge University scholar who researches North Korean music.

Melodies have to be simple, accessible, something people can easily pick up.

Tunes also need to be pitched at a vocal range where they can be sung by most people. The masses can’t keep up with vocal gymnastics, so forget about multi-octave riffs.

Ms Leonzini says the songbook also rarely contains any tracks with real emotion. “The idea is they want to motivate, to strive towards a common goal for the benefit of the nation… they don’t tend to produce songs like ballads,” she says.

There is zero tolerance for creative or artistic freedom in North Korea. It is illegal for musicians, painters and writers to produce works simply for the sake of art.

“All artistic output in North Korea must serve the class education of citizens and more specifically educate them as to why they should feel a sense of gratitude, a sense of loyalty to the party,” Ms Leonzini says.

North Korea’s government believes in the “seed theory”, she adds, where every single work must contain an ideological seed, a message that is then disseminated en masse through art.

Music is one of its most powerful tools – and Pyongyang keeps its pop tracks for those at home. The state has paraded its opera troupes and symphony orchestras on overseas missions – but its lighter ensembles are kept for a domestic audience only.

North Koreans wake up every morning to propaganda songs blasted over village town squares, say defectors.

The song sheet and lyrics of the latest songs – which only come out sparingly – are printed in newspapers and magazines; usually they also have to learn dances to go with it, says Keith Howard, an emeritus professor of musicology at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, who first visited North Korea in the 1990s.

“By the time the song has sort of been taken into the body, it’s become part of the person,” he says.

“So they know the lyrics so well, even if they’re just doing the actions, even if they’re just listening to it. A good ideological song does that – it needs to embed the message.”

Reading between the lines

And for regime watchers, the two-minute track released last month has an alarming new message.

While Western music fans have been dissecting Taylor Swift’s new songs or breaking down the Kendrick Lamar v Drake diss tracks, North Korean experts have been scrutinising Friendly Father’s lyrics.

It’s not the first song dedicated to Mr Kim. But there’s a noticeable departure in the language and vocabulary used.

He is being referred to as “father” and “the Great” – terms previously reserved for North Korea’s first leader, his grandfather Kim Il Sung.

Mr Kim was called the “Great Successor” when he took over the mantle in 2012 after his father Kim Jong Il’s passing.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckv7yk88q0go

The town of Fujikawaguchiko has had enough of tourists.

Known for a number of scenic photo spots that offer a near-perfect shot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the town on Tuesday began constructing a large black screen on a stretch of a sidewalk to block the view of the mountain. The reason: misbehaving foreign tourists.

“Kawaguchiko is a town built on tourism, and I welcome many visitors, and the town welcomes them too, but there are many things about their manners that are worrying,” said Michie Motomochi, owner of a cafe serving Japanese sweets “ohagi,” near the soon-to-be-blocked photo spot.

Motomochi mentioned littering, crossing the road with busy traffic, ignoring traffic lights, trespassing into private properties. She isn’t unhappy though — 80% of her customers are foreign visitors whose numbers have surged after a pandemic hiatus that kept Japan closed for about two years.

Her neighborhood suddenly became a popular spot about two years ago, apparently after a photo taken in a particular angle showing Mount Fuji in the background, as if sitting atop a local convenience store, became a social media sensation known as “Mt. Fuji Lawson,” town officials say.

The mostly foreign tourists have since crowded the small area, triggering a wave of concerns and complaints from residents about visitors blocking the narrow sidewalk, taking photos on the busy road or walking into neighbors’ properties, officials said.

In Europe, concerns over tourists overcrowding historic cities led Venice last week to launch a pilot program to charge day-trippers a 5-euro ($5.35) entry fee. Authorities hope it will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.

Fujikawaguchiko has tried other methods: signs urging visitors not to run into the road and to use the designated crosswalk in English, Chinese, Thai and Korean, and even hiring a security guard as crowd control. None worked.

A notice for tourists across the use road from the Lawson convenience store, where a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mount Fuji in the background Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)The black mesh net, when completed in mid-May, will be 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high and 20 meters (65.6 feet) long, and will almost completely block the view of Mount Fuji, officials said.

Dozens of tourists gathered Tuesday taking photos even though Mount Fuji was not in sight due to cloudy weather.

Anthony Hok, from France, thought the screen was an overreaction. “Too big solution for subject not as big, even if tourists are making trouble. Doesn’t look right to me,” he said. The 26-year-old suggested setting up road barriers for safety instead of blocking views for pictures.

But Helen Pull, a 34-year-old visitor from the U.K., was sympathetic to the local concern. While traveling in Japan in the past few weeks, she has seen tourism “really ramped up here in Japan from what we’ve seen.”

“I can see why people who live and work here might want to do something about that,” she said, noting many were taking pictures even when the mountain was not in the view. “That’s the power of the social media.”

Source : https://apnews.com/article/japan-fuji-tourists-screen-9ac5d8f02062ff3c1e573870a6787f16

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday (May 6) arrived in France on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to warn his counterpart against backing Russia in the conflict over Ukraine.

Xi’s arrival for the visit marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between France and China heralded the start of his first trip to Europe since 2019, which will also see him visit Serbia and Hungary.

But Xi’s choice of France as the sole major European power to visit indicates the relative warmth in Sino-French relations since Macron made his own state visit to China in April 2023 and acknowledges the French leader’s stature as an EU powerbroker.

The leader of the country of more than 1.4 billion people, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, was welcomed under umbrellas at a drizzly Paris Orly airport by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Xi is to hold a day of talks in Paris on Monday – also including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen – followed by a state banquet hosted by Macron at the Elysee.

Tuesday will see Macron take Xi to the Pyrenees mountains to an area he used to visit as a boy for a day of less public and more intimate talks.

In an op-ed for Le Figaro daily, Xi said that he wanted to work with the international community to find ways to solve the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while emphasising that China was “neither a party nor a participant” in the conflict.

“We hope that peace and stability will return quickly to Europe, and intend to work with France and the entire international community to find good paths to resolve the crisis,” he wrote.

“STABILITY OF INTERNATIONAL ORDER”

A key priority of Macron will be to warn Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, with Western officials concerned Moscow is already using Chinese machine tools in arms production.

Beijing’s ties with Moscow have, if anything, warmed after the invasion and the West wants China above all not to supply weapons to Russia and risk tipping the balance in the conflict.

“It is in our interest to get China to weigh in on the stability of the international order,” said Macron in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday.

“We must, therefore, work with China to build peace,” he added.

Macron also said in the same interview Europe must defend its “strategic interests” in its economic relations with China, accusing Beijing of not respecting the rules on international trade.

But he acknowledged in an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that Europeans are “not unanimous” on the strategy to adopt as “certain actors still see China essentially as a market of opportunities” while it “exports massively” to Europe.

The French president had gladdened Chinese state media and troubled some EU allies after his 2023 visit by declaring that Europe should not be drawn into a stand-off between China and the United States, particularly over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan.

China views the island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.

“The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,” Macron said at the time, warning against a “bloc versus bloc logic”.

“TWO CORE MESSAGES”

Rights groups are urging Macron to bring up human rights in the talks, accusing China of failing to respect the rights of the Uyghur Muslim minority and keeping dozens of journalists behind bars.

“President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/xi-jinping-arrives-france-state-visit-4314456

Former Miss Ecuador contestant Landy Parraga Goyburo was shot dead by two armed men in a brazen daylight attack in a city restaurant located in the Los Ríos Province of the country. The shocking incident unfolded in Quevedo in the wake of reports that the Ecuadorian beauty was linked to a notorious gang boss.

Surveillance footage captured the chilling moment when two gunmen stormed into the eatery where Goyburo and another individual were seated, the New York Post reported. Despite attempts to seek refuge, both victims were mercilessly shot by one of the assailants. The other gunman stood watch near the exit as the perpetrators swiftly fled the scene, leaving Goyburo lying motionless in a pool of blood.

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🔥🚨BREAKING GRAPHIC: Here is footage of the Párraga Goyburo, the Ecuadorian beauty queen, 23, who was gunned down by assassins in a restaurant months after she was ‘discussed by drug traffickers in secret chat’

The police are currently investigating the incident, working to… pic.twitter.com/aBMzWSaqk8

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) April 29, 2024

Local media outlet Ecuavisa revealed that Goyburo had been in Quevedo to attend a wedding the day before the tragic incident, the US newspaper said. The motive behind the targeted attack remains unclear, prompting law enforcement authorities to launch a thorough investigation to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.

At the young age of 23, Goyburo gained significant attention as a former beauty queen and entrepreneur. With over a million followers on social media, she was a well-known figure in Ecuadorian society. Goyburo owned a household goods importing business and ran her own sportswear line, showcasing her entrepreneurial spirit and ambition.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/ex-miss-ecuador-contestant-who-was-linked-to-gang-boss-shot-dead-in-brazen-daylight-attack-8872814.html

The Guardian reported that a purported video, apparently filmed from across the street, is circulating on social media, allegedly showing Lauga being sexually assaulted.

An Australian Member of Parliament was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted in the country’s central Queensland town of Yeppoon last weekend. Notably, Queensland Labour MP Brittany Lauga shared her ordeal in a post on her social media platforms. She stated that the tests at the hospital confirmed the presence of drugs that she didn’t take. She added that several other women might also have been drugged and attacked on the same night.

Additionally, the Guardian reported that a purported video of the alleged assault of Lauga seemingly filmed from across the street, was also making rounds on social media. The Labour MP was alerted about the same after she reported the assault to the Police.

In a statement posted on social media, Lauga said she had contacted police in the early hours of Sunday morning (28th April).

The post read, “In the early hours of Sunday morning, I went to the Yeppoon police station and Yeppoon hospital, after being drugged and sexually assaulted. Tests at the hospital confirmed the presence of drugs in my body which I did not take. This substance impacted me significantly. A police investigation is underway.”

She stressed that after she shared her ordeal, several other women also contacted her, who might have also been drugged in the coastal town of Yeppoon, on the same night.

“I have had multiple women contact me who have experienced the same thing in our town,” it added.

She further stated, “This could have happened to anyone and tragically, it does happen to many of us. It’s not ok. We should be able to enjoy socialising in our town without the risk of being drugged or assaulted.”

The Queensland Police Service has confirmed that it is investigating a sexual assault complaint relating to an incident in Yeppoon last Sunday.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said that the provincial government is supporting Lauga in any way they can. He said, “No one should have to go through what Brittany is going through. My sole focus is on Brittany and her well-being. I’ve told Brittany that we’re here to support her, whatever she needs.”

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Police are tonight investigating after a Queensland Labor MP reported being drugged and sexually assaulted last weekend.

Brittany Lauga issued a statement this morning with the shocking revelation, saying it may have also happened to other women. #9News@JoshBavas pic.twitter.com/MfWAf9nGqi

— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) May 4, 2024

Queensland Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon said that the statement made for “difficult reading”. She said, “Those are shocking allegations … I understand that Brittany is going to take a short time to look after herself and we absolutely support her to do that.”

In her post, Lauga requested people to respect her privacy adding that she would take “time to physically and emotionally heal” after the incident.

She also urged people to come forward if they have any information that could help the Police.

Source : https://www.opindia.com/2024/05/australia-mp-brittany-lauga-allegedly-drugged-and-sexually-assaulted

Several people, including Tesla founder Elon Musk and Dogecoin creator Billy Markus, have mocked the California High-Speed Rail Authority after it proudly announced the completion of the “Fresno River Viaduct” last year.

The state government of California is under scrutiny for its celebration of the completion of a high-speed rail bridge. A project that has cost taxpayers over 11 billion US Dollars, and took nine years for its construction, seems to lead nowhere.

Several people, including Tesla founder Elon Musk and Dogecoin creator Billy Markus, have mocked the California High-Speed Rail Authority after it proudly announced the completion of the “Fresno River Viaduct” last year, a small segment of the state’s long-delayed bullet train project aimed at connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Elon Musk took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) and expressed disappointment with a sad, crying emoji about the project, which reportedly faces the possibility of cancellation.

On the other hand, Billy Markus said in his X post, “This is the most remarkable human achievement ever.”

“1,600 feet of high-speed rail after 9 years and 11 billion dollars. It takes about 5 minutes to walk 1,600 feet, so a high-speed rail for that is a really big deal,” he added.

The money spent on the project includes the bridge and other infrastructure for the first phase of the high-speed route, which stretches from Bakersfield, north of Los Angeles, to Merced, approximately 80 miles from the Bay Area.

Critics responded to an earlier post by the rail authority, praising the completion of the Fresno River Viaduct in Madera County as one of the “first completed high-speed rail structures.”

“At nearly 1,600 feet long, high-speed trains will travel over the riverbed and will run parallel with the BNSF Railroad,” the authority stated.

Images posted by the authority reveal the bridge connected to nothing at either end, prompting some to argue it symbolizes the broader issues plaguing the project.

Reacting to reported estimates suggesting the completion of the rail line could cost taxpayers about 100 billion US Dollars, Markus fired back, sarcastically remarking, “Wow, so impressive. Can’t wait until the year 2400 for this to finish for 700 quadrillion dollars.”

According to the New York Post, Venture capitalist Patrick Blumenthal suggested the authority should reconsider patting itself on the back, highlighting the lack of progress made on the rail-line project.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/world/us-news/story/california-mocked-for-over-11-billion-high-speed-bridge-that-leads-to-nowhere-2535592-2024-05-05

Antonio Guterres says he fears war in Gaza ‘will worsen exponentially’ without a truce as Israel’s Rafah assault looms.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has renewed his calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a Hamas delegation is set to visit the Egyptian capital, Cairo, soon for renewed indirect talks.

“For the sake of the people of Gaza, the hostages & their families, and the region & the wider world – I strongly encourage the government of Israel & Hamas leadership to reach an agreement in their negotiations,”  the secretary-general said in a post on X on Friday.

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For the sake of the people of Gaza, the hostages & their families, and the region & the wider world – I strongly encourage the government of Israel & Hamas leadership to reach an agreement in their negotiations.

Without that, I fear the war will worsen exponentially.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 3, 2024

His comments come as CIA Director William Burns arrived in Cairo for meetings, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an Egyptian security source and three sources at Cairo airport.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been leading efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas to broker a deal for a ceasefire and captive release in Gaza.

A day earlier, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said he discussed the latest Israeli proposal for a truce with Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Hamas confirmed on Thursday that talks are scheduled to take place in the coming days with the aim of ending the war on Gaza.

This week, the Palestinian group said it had received Israel’s latest position and would study it before submitting a reply.

Both US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Hamas to accept the deal describing it as a “generous” offer. It includes a halt in fighting for 40 days and the exchange of dozens of Israeli captives for many more Palestinian prisoners.

The White House on Friday reiterated its position that the onus is on Hamas to accept the proposal. “Hamas has that deal that is on the table. They need to take that deal,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

But Hamas has stressed that it would not accept an agreement that does not lead to a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the unhindered return of displaced families to their homes.

In November during a weeklong truce, dozens of captives were released by Palestinian groups in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. But Israeli forces renewed their offensive after the ceasefire expired.

Looming Rafah incursion
Amid the push for a ceasefire, Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, voiced concern for civilians in the besieged enclave.

Laerke warned that a looming Israeli ground offensive into Gaza’s southern city of Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians there at risk.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/3/un-chief-renews-calls-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-deal-in-gaza

Iran released all crew members of Portuguese-flagged vessel MSC Aries, including 17 Indians. Iranian Foreign Minister confirmed release during call with Estonian counterpart.

Iran has said it released all the crew members of Portuguese-flagged cargo vessel MSC Aries that had 17 Indians among its 25 crews.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian mentioned the release of the crew of the ship during a phone conversation with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna on Friday, according to an Iranian readout.

Ann Tessa Joseph, the sole woman cadet among the 17 Indian crew members of the Israeli-linked container vessel was released days after the tanker was seized by Iran’s military on April 13.

“In response to the request of the Estonian side regarding the Portuguese ship seized in the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the release of the Estonian crew, Amirabdollahian said the ship, which turned off its radar in the territorial waters of Iran and endangered the security of navigation, is detained under judicial rules,” the Iranian foreign ministry said.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/world/17-indian-crew-members-of-cargo-ship-seized-by-iran-released-on-humanitarian-grounds-11714750000148.html

President Joe Biden on Friday bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people, including civil rights icons such as the late Medgar Evers, prominent political leaders such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn, and actor Michelle Yeoh.

Biden said the recipients of the nation’s highest civilian honor are “incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope have kept faith in a better tomorrow.”

One of them, Clarence B. Jones, said in an interview that he thought a prankster was on the phone when he answered and heard the caller say they were from the White House.

“I said, ‘Is this a joke or is this serious?’” Jones recalled. The caller swore they were serious and was calling with the news that Biden wanted to recognize Jones with the medal.

Jones, 93, was honored for his activism during the Civil Rights Movement. He’s a lawyer who provided legal counsel to Martin Luther King Jr. and helped write the opening paragraphs of the “I Have a Dream” speech that King delivered at the Lincoln Memorial at the 1963 March on Washington.

The White House said the recipients are “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”

The 10 men and nine women hail from the worlds of politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy, science and religion. Three medals were awarded posthumously.

Seven politicians were among the recipients: former New York mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore, Biden’s former climate envoy John Kerry, former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who died in 2013, Clyburn, the Democratic congressman from South Carolina, and Pelosi, the Democratic congresswoman from California.

Biden in his remarks acknowledged that Clyburn’s endorsement in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary helped him score a thundering win in South Carolina, powering him to his party’s nomination and ultimately the White House. Bloomberg mounted a short-lived bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

“I can say this without fear of contradiction,” Biden said. “I would not be standing here as president making these awards were it not for Jim. I mean that sincerely.”

In addition to representing North Carolina in the Senate, Dole, a Republican and the widow of former Sen. Bob Dole, also served as transportation secretary and labor secretary and was president of the American Red Cross. She currently leads a foundation supporting military caregivers.

Pelosi is the first and only woman ever elected to the speaker’s post, putting her second in the line of succession to the presidency. Biden referenced her legislative achievements, noted her actions during the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and said “history will remember you, Nancy, as the greatest speaker of the House of Representatives.”

Evers received posthumous recognition for his work more than six decades ago fighting segregation in Mississippi in the 1960s as the NAACP’s first field officer in the state. He was 37 when he was fatally shot in the driveway of his home in June 1963. His daughter, Reena, who was 8 years old when her father was killed, accepted his medal.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/medal-of-freedom-biden-pelosi-gore-a74aa1d194736834975543498ff3919b

Ryan Garcia also weighed in 3 pounds over

Ryan Garcia was a heavy underdog in his fight against Devin Haney in Brooklyn April 20 but still managed to win by majority decision.

The fight was supposed to be for the WBC super lightweight championship, but Garcia weighed in three pounds overweight. So, the belt was not up for grabs.

But the record books are what they are — for now.

ESPN reported that Garcia tested positive for ostarine, a banned substance considered a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) the day before and the day of the fight.

Garcia denied taking anything, saying he has “never taken a steroid in my life” and doesn’t “even know where to get steroids.” Ostarine is not a steroid but can stimulate muscle growth.

“At the end of the day, I barely take supplements,” Garcia said on X.

Conor McGregor isn’t buying it and wants Garcia punished.

“Cheated the weight and was juiced, lifetime ban,” McGregor said in a deleted post on X, formerly Twitter. “Sad to see, sad to say. Sad and a bit sick. Don’t come near me if I see you ever Ryan Garcia. I am actually disgusted.”

McGregor supported Garcia in his locker room after he lost to Gervonta “Tank” Davis last year, but it seems that support has ended.

The results of the tests were not known until after the fight, according to ESPN. Garcia’s victory could be overturned if the positive drug test is confirmed.

Ryan Garcia during a weigh-in at Barclays Center April 19, 2024, in New York City. (Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images)Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/conor-mcgregor-calls-lifetime-ban-ryan-garcia-reported-positive-drug-test-following-victory

Lawmakers in the Solomon Islands have selected a pro-China candidate as their prime minister, in an indication the Pacific nation will remain a close Beijing ally.

Jeremiah Manele won the prime minister vote on Thursday, beating his opponent Matthew Wale in a 31-18 count.

He will succeed former PM Manasseh Sogavare, a vocal critic of the West.

Mr Manele was foreign minister in 2019, when the Solomons chose to switch its longstanding diplomatic recognition of Taiwan to China – a move that shocked regional neighbours.

He has already indicated that he will continue the nation’s close ties with China – including the island’s secretive defence and security pact. Opposition candidates had suggested the deal could be revoked, or at the very least have its full details disclosed to the public.

But analysts also expect Mr Manele to take a less confrontational approach to the Solomons’ traditional Western partners like Australia than his predecessor. He is also seen as a more diplomatic communicator.

The Pacific election closely watched by China and the West
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among the first to congratulate Mr Manele on Wednesday saying he looked forward to working closely with the new leader.

“Australia and Solomon Islands are close friends and our futures are connected,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Voters elected MPs across the country in the April vote, but the prime minister and leadership are determined by elected representatives in a poll which took place on Thursday morning.

Mr Sogavare in a surprise move chose not to enter the prime minister race last week after his party received weaker than expected results in the 17 April general election.

He instead formed a new coalition and endorsed Mr Manele as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Mr Sogavare became an increasingly polarising figure in his five years in office, during which China rapidly increased investment into the country.

He stood behind Mr Manele as the new leader addressed media on Thursday after his win.

“I will at all times put the interests of our people and country above all others,” said Mr Manele said.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cxr3xpw9v04o

King Charles has been presented with a beautifully illustrated record of his Coronation, almost a year after the historic service at Westminster Abbey.

For at least 700 years, monarchs have been given a “Coronation roll”.

Stretching for 69ft, the hand-stitched manuscript was written by calligrapher Stephanie von Werthern-Gill.

And there are no nightmare spelling mistakes, bar a single dot missing over an ‘i’ at the very end.

“Most marvellous illumination work,” said the King, while Queen Camilla said she would need “my specs” to read it.

For the first time, the manuscript did not use any animal skin.

But spare a thought for the calligrapher who wrote it.

This 21m-long piece of history, like a massive roll of wallpaper, includes 11,500 elegantly inscribed words, using specially made ink.

In an epic achievement of concentration, Stephanie says she kept going for 56 days, without any weekend breaks, determined to keep her rhythm going, phone switched off, her calm sustained by breathing exercises and classical music.

“It was very intense,” she says, but the outcome “feels like a piece of art”.

“All the right spelling?” joked the King, when he looked at the huge roll, which he said “goes on for miles”.

In fact, there was only a single dot missing on a letter i in the hand-stitched pages of copperplate writing, which she’d managed to spot.

The result was shown to King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, as the King continues his return to duties after more positive news about his ongoing cancer treatment.

This is the official state record of a monarch’s accession and Coronation, but it is now as much an artwork as a formal document.

It includes intricate illustrations by Tim Noad, who must soon be the country’s most widely viewed, but least well-credited, artist. Because as well as illustrating this historic document, he is the designer of the King’s cypher, the logo that you will begin to see on new banknotes, public buildings, uniforms and eventually on new post boxes.

The roll records the ceremonies, processions and promises of the Coronation service and shows who was there in the Abbey, particularly those with a ceremonial role, as well as the long lists of royal guests, politicians and overseas representatives.

But not everyone gets a mention.

When the document is finally lodged in the National Archives, there will be no record of Ant and Dec or Katy Perry having been there. And there is not even a hello for Lionel Richie. They have been reduced to a catch-all heading of “Other groups”.

There is also no mention of the protests by anti-monarchists that day.

This Coronation roll, the first for 70 years, is intended to be more accessible than its predecessors, so there will be an online video version at www.coronationroll.gov.uk with recordings of some of those present, such as Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, famous for her sword-carrying skills.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68931958

Myanmar’s military government will no longer allow conscription-age men to travel out of the country for work, weeks after an enlistment order prompted many to try and flee.

On Thursday, authorities said they would suspend all applications from men for overseas work permits.

There is a large diaspora of Myanmar citizens working in other countries in Asia and previously locals had been allowed to leave for jobs abroad.

But the restrictions come as the junta battles increased opposition in the country’s ongoing civil war.

The junta had imposed the conscription order in February, following months of losses.

Nearly 100,000 men applied for work permits in the three months after that, part of a wider exodus of people fleeing.

Young people had previously spoke to the BBC of their desperation to get out of the country. Men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 are obliged to enlist.

The crackdown on the work abroad now is being seen as another major blow. Many in Myanmar had gone to work in countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea as well as the United Arab Emirates.

A 32-year-old man who was preparing to leave the country for Japan said he was devastated.

He told BBC Burmese: “[Everyone] has lost their hope for the future.”

“There are no job opportunities within the country and now they’ve also forbidden us from leaving the country. Are we not allowed to do anything?” he said.

Ko Phyo, a 28-year-old from Lewey Township in the capital Naypyidaw told BBC Burmese the military council’s directive left the country’s youth with no work prospects at all.

The BBC has witnessed how tens of thousands of young Myanmar people have fled the country since the February edict – with many seeking relief in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw8q9vx93q6o

Tory turmoil across England has seen the party’s councillors decimated across England and concede another parliamentary seat in a by-election – just months away from a general election.

The Conservative Party has suffered its worst electoral defeat in years, losing more than half of its councillors who stood for re-election across England.

Labour hailed a “truly historic” result in Rishi Sunak’s own backyard of York and North Yorkshire, where David Skaith smashed Tory Keane Duncan by almost 15,000 votes.

The region, which was electing a mayor for the first time, covers Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency and is an area Labour has historically struggled to compete in.

Speaking at Northallerton Town Football Club, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve had a positive campaign here, and I am very, very proud to stand here as leader of the Labour Party to celebrate this historic victory.

“And it is a historic victory – these are places where we would not have usually had a Labour Party success but we’ve been able to create that success and persuade people to vote for us.”

Sir Keir also renewed his demand that the prime minister call a general election.

The party also had successes in the North East and East Midlands mayoral votes and in the Blackpool by-election.

There was a sliver of hope for the government, with Lord Ben Houtchen holding on to his role as the mayor of Tees Valley.

Appearing alongside Lord Houchen at a victory rally, Rishi Sunak said: “I’ve got a message for the Labour Party too because they know that they have to win here in order to win a general election – they know that.

“They assumed that Tees Valley would stroll back to them – but it didn’t.”

This victory is likely to have quelled talk of rebellion among disenchanted Tory MPs who had threatened to oust the prime minister if the results proved a disaster, but it remains to be seen whether the Tories can hold on to the West Midlands mayoralty.

Kevin Spacey has responded to abuse allegations against him in the new doc “Spacey Unmasked” via a video response posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Journalist Dan Wootton interviewed Spacey in a lengthy video titled “Right of Reply,” and Spacey asserted, “I’ve got nothing left to hide.”

“Why didn’t you just deny it?” Wootton asked about the early Anthony Rapp allegation. Spacey said he didn’t know what to do. “I honestly do not remember the encounter. If I did behave then as he described, I owe him a sincere apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” Spacey read from his statement to Buzzfeed at the time.

Wootton proposes that Rapp brought his allegations out of jealousy, while Spacey explains how he didn’t grasp the assault allegations at first, thinking that Rapp’s motive was to out his homosexuality. “I will never again apologize for something I did not do,” he says.

Popular on Variety

Spacey says he would have preferred to come out onstage if he had won an Emmy, saying, “It sure is nice to hold a woman for a change.” However, he didn’t win in 2016 or 2017.

He also tells Wootton of his confusion about modern romantic encounters. “What are the rules of engagement here?” he asks rhetorically.

“Nobody in Hollywood has ever presented a path back for me,” Spacey continues, “There’s no coursework material. I’ve been given no boxes to check, no nothing. It seems that some are content with just canceling me forever. It’s a life sentence.”

“Spacey Unmasked” is set to air on Channel 4 in the U.K. on May 6 or 7, and has also been acquired by Max for the U.S. The two-part documentary features previously unheard of testimonies about the actor’s alleged sexually inappropriate behavior, including a claim that he groped another “House of Cards” actor on set and an accusation that he made an “aggressive sexual move” on a classmate in high school.

Spacey first spoke out against the doc in a post on X on Thursday, writing: “Over the last week, I have repeatedly requested that Channel 4 afford me more than 7 days to respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years and provide me with sufficient details to investigate these matters. Channel 4 has refused on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me. I will not sit back and be attacked by a dying network’s one-sided ‘documentary’ about me in their desperate attempt for ratings.”

Source : https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/kevin-spacey-doc-alleged-abuse-video-response-1235991090/

Within minutes of getting the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, Michelle Zimmerman felt pain racing from her left arm up to her ear and down to her fingertips. Within days, she was unbearably sensitive to light and struggled to remember simple facts.

She was 37, with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, and until then could ride her bicycle 20 miles, teach a dance class and give a lecture on artificial intelligence, all in the same day. Now, more than three years later, she lives with her parents. Eventually diagnosed with brain damage, she cannot work, drive or even stand for long periods of time.

“When I let myself think about the devastation of what this has done to my life, and how much I’ve lost, sometimes it feels even too hard to comprehend,” said Dr. Zimmerman, who believes her injury is due to a contaminated vaccine batch.

The Covid vaccines, a triumph of science and public health, are estimated to have prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths. Yet even the best vaccines produce rare but serious side effects. And the Covid vaccines have been given to more than 270 million people in the United States, in nearly 677 million doses.

Dr. Zimmerman’s account is among the more harrowing, but thousands of Americans believe they suffered serious side effects following Covid vaccination. As of April, just over 13,000 vaccine-injury compensation claims have been filed with the federal government — but to little avail. Only 19 percent have been reviewed. Only 47 of those were deemed eligible for compensation, and only 12 have been paid out, at an average of about $3,600.

Some scientists fear that patients with real injuries are being denied help and believe that more needs to be done to clarify the possible risks.

“At least long Covid has been somewhat recognized,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist and vaccine expert at Yale University. But people who say they have post-vaccination injuries are “just completely ignored and dismissed and gaslighted,” she added.

In interviews and email exchanges conducted over several months, federal health officials insisted that serious side effects were extremely rare and that their surveillance efforts were more than sufficient to detect patterns of adverse events.

“Hundreds of millions of people in the United States have safely received Covid vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history,” Jeff Nesbit, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an emailed statement.

But in a recent interview, Dr. Janet Woodcock, a longtime leader of the Food and Drug Administration, who retired in February, said she believed that some recipients had experienced uncommon but “serious” and “life-changing” reactions beyond those described by federal agencies.

“I feel bad for those people,” said Dr. Woodcock, who became the F.D.A.’s acting commissioner in January 2021 as the vaccines were rolling out. “I believe their suffering should be acknowledged, that they have real problems, and they should be taken seriously.”

“I’m disappointed in myself,” she added. “I did a lot of things I feel very good about, but this is one of the few things I feel I just didn’t bring it home.”

Federal officials and independent scientists face a number of challenges in identifying potential vaccine side effects.

The nation’s fragmented health care system complicates detection of very rare side effects, a process that depends on an analysis of huge amounts of data. That’s a difficult task when a patient may be tested for Covid at Walgreens, get vaccinated at CVS, go to a local clinic for minor ailments and seek care at a hospital for serious conditions. Each place may rely on different health record systems.

There is no central repository of vaccine recipients, nor of medical records, and no easy to way to pool these data. Reports to the largest federal database of so-called adverse events can be made by anyone, about anything. It’s not even clear what officials should be looking for.

“I mean, you’re not going to find ‘brain fog’ in the medical record or claims data, and so then you’re not going to find” a signal that it may be linked to vaccination, Dr. Woodcock said. If such a side effect is not acknowledged by federal officials, “it’s because it doesn’t have a good research definition,” she added. “It isn’t, like, malevolence on their part.”

The government’s understaffed compensation fund has paid so little because it officially recognizes few side effects for Covid vaccines. And vaccine supporters, including federal officials, worry that even a whisper of possible side effects feeds into misinformation spread by a vitriolic anti-vaccine movement.

‘I’m Not Real’

Patients who believe they experienced serious side effects say they have received little support or acknowledgment.

Shaun Barcavage, 54, a nurse practitioner in New York City who has worked on clinical trials for H.I.V. and Covid, said that ever since his first Covid shot, merely standing up sent his heart racing — a symptom suggestive of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a neurological disorder that some studies have linked to both Covid and, much less often, vaccination.

He also experienced stinging pain in his eyes, mouth and genitals, which has abated, and tinnitus, which has not.

“I can’t get the government to help me,” Mr. Barcavage said of his fruitless pleas to federal agencies and elected representatives. “I am told I’m not real. I’m told I’m rare. I’m told I’m coincidence.”

Renee France, 49, a physical therapist in Seattle, developed Bell’s palsy — a form of facial paralysis, usually temporary — and a dramatic rash that neatly bisected her face. Bell’s palsy is a known side effect of other vaccines, and it has been linked to Covid vaccination in some studies.

But Ms. France said doctors were dismissive of any connection to the Covid vaccines. The rash, a bout of shingles, debilitated her for three weeks, so Ms. France reported it to federal databases twice.

“I thought for sure someone would reach out, but no one ever did,” she said.

Similar sentiments were echoed in interviews, conducted over more than a year, with 30 people who said they had been harmed by Covid shots. They described a variety of symptoms following vaccination, some neurological, some autoimmune, some cardiovascular.

All said they had been turned away by physicians, told their symptoms were psychosomatic, or labeled anti-vaccine by family and friends — despite the fact that they supported vaccines.

Even leading experts in vaccine science have run up against disbelief and ambivalence.

Source : https://dnyuz.com/2024/05/03/thousands-believe-covid-vaccines-harmed-them-is-anyone-listening

ISRAELIS have been warned not to go to the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden amid fears of a terrorist attack.

Authorities fear terrorist factions “will exploit protests” planned against Israel taking part in this year’s competition.

Sweden has promised a dazzling show from May 7 to 11, but plans have been marred by demonstrations organised over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza – triggered by Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack.

Protesters are set to take to the streets on May 9, when Israel will take part in the second semi-final, and again on the day of the final, May 11.

Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) has now urged citizens to avoid travelling to host city Malmo, citing “well-founded concerns” of terrorist attacks.

It comes as ISIS could be gearing up for a new wave of attacks after cops foiled 12 terror plots across Europe in the past year.

There are growing concerns the terror group could leverage the Middle East conflict to launch bloodshed in the continent and spark chaos.

In an unusual move, the Israeli military said its home front command mobile app will also provide “real-time notifications” with any emergency instructions throughout the contest.

Typically, the app alerts Israelis to take shelter from incoming rocket fire.

The security council said it had “a well-founded concern that terrorist elements will exploit the protests and the anti-Israel mood to carry out attacks against Israelis attending Eurovision”.

It has also raised the travel alert for Malmo from level two (potential threat) to level three (moderate threat).

A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces said: “This is a unique move adapted for the Eurovision event only and within the defined schedules”.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the contest, resisted calls for Israel and its contestant, Eden Golan, to be excluded.

Israel was permitted to compete after it agreed to modify the lyrics of its original song “October Rain” which the EBU said made reference to the October 7 assault.

Golan will instead perform a version called “Hurricane”.

She told AFP news agency: “I was kind of shocked when the EBU didn’t approve the song. I don’t think the first version was political.”

But Golan, 20, has been told she must not leave her hotel room except from to perform at the show, Swedish paper Expressen reports.

It comes as organisers have been forced to ramp up security measures, with more than 100,000 visitors expected to swarm Sweden’s third-largest city.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/11265731/eurovision-isis-threat-sweden-terrorists-attacks

Hope Hicks wept on the stand today in the hush money trial of her former boss moments after a prosecutor had finished questioning her about her dealings with Trump and Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Finished talking to Assistant D.A. Matthew Coloangela on the stand in Manhattan, the former White House Communications Director had just begun taking questions from a defense lawyer when she turned her head away from the courtroom gallery and, crying audibly, reached for a tissue to dab away tears.

“Ms. Hicks, do you need a break?” Judge Juan Merchan asked of the much anticipated witness. “Yes,” she replied in a shaky voice.

The court recessed for about 10 minutes, and Ms. Hicks returned to the stand. “Sorry about that,” she said.

Earlier, Hicks discussed the Trump campaign’s decision to deny a Wall Street Journal story about American Media’s hush money deal with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The story was published four days before the 2016 election and it also mentioned porn actor Stormy Daniels.

Hicks, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, testified that her instructions to tell the Journal that Trump denied any sexual involvement with either woman came directly from Trump himself. “I know very clearly that he stated the denials,” she said.

When Cohen later texted her “I have a statement from Storm denying everything,” Hicks testified, “I didn’t know what he was talking about and I didn’t want to know.”

In February, after the election, The New York Times reported that Cohen admitted to paying $130,000 to Daniels for her silence — the payment that triggered the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation of Trump and led to his indictment on charges of falsifying business records to conceal a reimbursement of Cohen.

Hicks testified that Trump told her, based on his own conversation about the Times article with Cohen, “He did it out of the kindness of his own heart and he never told anybody about it.”

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo asked Hicks if that sounded like the Michael Cohen she knew — a question that drew an objection from the defense, which Judge Merchan overruled.

“I’d say that would be out of character for Michael,” Hicks replied. “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person.”

In a gentle cross-examination by Trump lawyer Emil Bove after her brief break to compose herself, Hicks described Cohen as a nuisance — someone continually inserting himself into a presidential campaign in which he had no official role.

“He liked to call himself a fixer or Mr. Fix-it, and it was only because he first broke it,” she said with a laugh.

Source : https://deadline.com/2024/05/url-hope-hicks-testifies-trump-hush-money-trial-1235903664

The United Nations said on Thursday Gaza’s post-war reconstruction would require an international effort unseen since the aftermath of World War II, estimating it could cost up to $40 billion.

It came as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh struck an optimistic tone over a possible truce and hostage release deal, after weeks of largely stalled negotiations.

There have been reports of sticking points between the militant group and Israel nearly seven months into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory.

But Haniyeh, head of the militant group’s Qatar-based political bureau, said in calls to Egyptian and Qatari mediators that Hamas was studying the latest proposal with a “positive spirit”.

Much of Gaza has been reduced to a grey landscape of rubble, and the United Nations estimated the cost of reconstruction at between $30 billion and $40 billion.

“The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented… this is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II,” assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari told a briefing in the Jordanian capital Amman.

He said “72 percent of all residential buildings have been completely or partially destroyed”.

Reconstruction is made more difficult by the presence of large quantities of unexploded ordnance that Gaza’s Civil Defence agency says triggers “more than 10 explosions every week”.

The war started with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 34 of them are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

‘Get this done’

Mediators have proposed a deal that would halt fighting for 40 days and exchange Israeli hostages for potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by Britain.

Source : https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240502-doubts-grow-over-gaza-truce-plan

A whistleblower who accused Boeing of ignoring safety flaws in the 737 MAX airplanes has died.

Joshua Dean, a former Spirit AeroSystems quality auditor, claimed he was fired for flagging concerns about lax standards at the company’s manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas.

His sudden death at the age of 45 on Tuesday came after suffering from a fast-spreading infection, according to his family and lawyer.

Dean’s lawyer Brian Knowles said it is a ‘loss to the aviation community and the flying public’.

Knowles told Al Jazeera: ‘He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues.

‘Aviation companies should encourage and incentivise those that do raise these concerns.

‘Otherwise, safety and quality are truly not these companies’ top priorities.’

Boeing came under fire for potentially fatal defects in its 737 MAX series.

The aircraft was involved in near-disaster when a door panel fell off of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a 737 MAX 9, mid-flight in January.

Passengers lost phones and clothes, and were nearly sucked out, when the panel was sucked out, causing the plane to depressurize.

Spirit AeroSystems had built the door panel.

In a complaint filed with the Federal Aviation Administration, Dean accused Spirit of ‘serious and gross’ quality failings at its production facility.

He claimed his concerns about a serious manufacturing defect had been ignored.

Dean later testified in a shareholder lawsuit against the company.

He believed he was fired from Spirit in April 2023 to discourage others from speaking out about concerns.

A spokesperson for the company said: ‘This sudden loss is stunning news here at Spirit and for his loved ones.’

Dean is the second Boeing whistleblower to die this year.

John Barnett, a 62-year-old who was also represented by Brian Knowles, was found dead with an apparently ‘self-inflicted’ gunshot wound in March.

He had been in the middle of a lawsuit against Boeing after suffering retaliation for exposing safety problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2024/05/02/boeing-whistleblower-dies-suddenly-claiming-safety-flaws-ignored-20760390/

A combination of failing food supply, rising sea levels and areas of the planet becoming too hot to live will ultimately lead to almost all mammals, including humans, to die out.

However, the cause may not be what you imagine.

While climate change is a very real threat to today’s population, this apocalyptic scenario, predicted by a supercomputer, will be caused by all the continents crashing into each other to form one giant landmass.

A hot, dry and largely uninhabitable supercontinent – luckily 250 million years from now.

By this point in the future, the Sun will be brighter and warm the Earth more, while the supercontinent formation will lead to more frequent volcanic eruptions that will produce high releases of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Together this will lead to the Earth being between 40 to 50C.

Lead author Dr Alexander Farnsworth, from the University of Bristol, said: ‘The newly-emerged supercontinent would effectively create a triple whammy, comprising the continentality effect, hotter Sun and more CO2 in the atmosphere, of increasing heat for much of the planet.’

Continentality is one factor effecting the climate depending on how far areas are from the sea.

‘The result is a mostly hostile environment devoid of food and water sources for mammals,’ said Dr Farnsworth. ‘Humans – along with many other species – would expire due to their inability to shed this heat through sweat, cooling their bodies.’

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2024/05/01/supercomputer-predicts-humans-will-face-a-triple-whammy-extinction-event-20754691/

A Saudi court’s decision to sentence fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi to 11 years in prison highlights what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech.

In the past two years the Saudi judiciary has “convicted and handed down lengthy prison terms on dozens of individuals for their expression on social media”, the human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

These cases are generally handled by the Specialised Criminal Court, which was established in 2008 to try suspects accused of terrorism, and Saudi authorities do not often comment on them.

Here are some of the most high-profile recent examples:

– Nourah al-Qahtani –

A mother-of-five, Qahtani was arrested in July 2021 largely in connection with critical posts on Twitter, since rebranded as X, according to a sentencing document provided by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a Washington-based rights group.

She initially received a prison sentence of six-and-a-half years, however prosecutors appealed for a harsher sentence and got their wish: a 45-year term issued in mid-2022.

Qahtani’s Twitter account, as identified in the sentencing document, features numerous posts criticising the government and others warning of attempts to arrest those behind public protests, which are not tolerated in Saudi Arabia.

The court found Qahtani had used Twitter “to challenge the religion and justice” of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s 38-year-old de facto ruler, according to the sentencing document.

It also says she incited “the activities of those who seek to disturb public order and destabilise the security of society and the stability of the state” by “publishing false and malicious tweets”.

Qahtani did not have a large public profile and it is not clear how her anonymous Twitter account, which has fewer than 600 followers, attracted the attention of Saudi authorities.

– Salma al-Shehab –

A member of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, Shehab had been studying for a doctorate in Britain and was arrested in January 2021 while visiting on holiday.

Source : https://www.yahoo.com/news/tweets-terrorism-saudis-jailed-online-124628450.html

Police forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including taking down an encampment at UCLA in a jarring scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted at universities this week.

In the pre-dawn hours, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California in Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.

Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA, and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and on Thursday.

“I’m a student here,” one UCLA protester told cameras as he was led away, his hands bound. “Please don’t fail us. Don’t fail us.”

Hours later, the student, who would only give his first name as Ryan, was back on campus and vowed he would not stop fighting.

“We will be back,” said Ryan, who was cited for unlawful assembly. “We will be disrupting. We will be demanding divestment.”

Students have rallied or set up tents at dozens of universities in recent days to protest Israel’s war on Gaza. Demonstrators have called on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel’s right to defend itself, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government.

Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.

Biden broke his silence on the demonstrations on Thursday after the UCLA raid, saying Americans have the right to protest but not to unleash violence.

“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest,” he said at the White House. “It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelling of classes and graduations – none of this is a peaceful protest.”

Biden, who is seeking re-election in November against Republican former President Donald Trump, has walked a careful line as he confronts criticism from both the right and the left over his Israel policy.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-police-flatten-pro-palestinian-camp-ucla-arrest-protesters-2024-05-02

Follow the Politics Hub for all the latest updates as the results come in and watch our special programme hosted by Jonathan Samuels, with more coverage over the weekend as results continue to come in.

Vote counting is under way after a range of local elections took place across England and Wales.

More than 2,600 council seats across 107 councils are up for grabs in England, alongside 11 mayoral elections, a parliamentary seat and police and crime commissioners throughout England and Wales.

Early results saw Labour win Hartlepool Council from no overall control – something a spokesperson called “a ground-breaking moment” after their loss there in the by-election of 2021 – and they claimed victory in Thurrock, Essex, ahead of the formal declaration.

The party also held onto local authorities in Sunderland, Newcastle and South Tyneside, while the Conservatives held Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.

Sky News is covering the results overnight with a special programme hosted by Jonathan Samuels, and coverage into the weekend.

The results unfolding in the next hours and days will give an indicator of public opinion on the political parties as the UK heads towards a general election.

Labour is hoping to make gains across the country, while the Conservatives will hope to minimise losses as they sit around 20 points behind the opposition in the polls.

Keen attention will be paid to the mayoral races being held in the West Midlands and the Tees Valley – Red Wall seats that the Conservatives won under Boris Johnson with mayors Andy Street and Lord Ben Houchen respectively.

Losses there could prove difficult for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – with rumours that if both turn red it could spark a leadership contest.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan is hoping to win a record third term as the mayor of London, running against the Conservative’s Susan Hall, with 25 seats on the London Assembly also up for grabs.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/polls-close-in-local-elections-around-england-and-wales-what-to-expect-13127555

Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to vote in the local elections after forgetting to bring an acceptable form of photo identification.

Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to send the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.

Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley was being selected.

He posted on X on Thursday morning: “The polls are now open. Vote Conservative today!”

The Elections Act has proved controversial, with fears that it would prove a deterrent to voting, particularly among disadvantaged groups.

In 2023, the Electoral Commission warned the new law, which requires people to show acceptable forms of photo ID when voting in person, could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including those with disabilities and from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The commission found that in local elections last May, 14,000 people were not able to vote because they did not have acceptable ID.

In England, passports, driving licences, blue badges and certain local travel cards are accepted forms of voter ID.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson did not deny he had failed to bring ID, saying only: “Mr Johnson voted Conservative.”

Meanwhile, the government has also said it plans to make veterans’ ID cards a valid form of voter identification after former service personnel were turned away from polling stations.

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer apologised to those who had been unable to use their veterans’ ID card to vote in the local elections, vowing to “do all I can” to have it added to the list of valid identification.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “It is our intention for the new Veteran Card, which was rolled out in January, to be added to the official list.”

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-turned-away-from-polling-station-after-forgetting-id-13127865

The far side of the moon is an increasingly popular destination in space. As China is set to launch Chang’e-6 to collect the area’s first-ever samples, here’s what you need to know about its race with NASA.

China’s Chang’e-6 robotic spacecraft is due to blast off today, hoping to become the first mission to collect rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon.

It is the next step in a tense race between NASA and China to create bases on the moon, and from there, lift off to Mars.

Since the first Chang’e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, Beijing has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration.

What is Chang’e 6 going to do?

The spacecraft is set to land on the northeastern side of the huge South Pole-Aitken Basin. It’s the oldest impact crater in the solar system.

There, it will collect samples to bring home to Earth so scientists can study what is on the moon’s far side for the first time. In 2019, the mission’s predecessor, Chang’e-4, became the first spacecraft to successfully land on the moon’s far side.

We only ever see one side of the moon because it takes the same amount of time to spin on its axis as it does to orbit Earth, around one month.

The side that faces away from Earth is pockmarked with lots of craters of different sizes and has a thicker, older crust, according to NASA.

Once Chang’e-6 has collected all its samples, it will attempt to lift off from the far side of the moon for the first time in history.

Chang’e-6’s mission will last for around 53 days and will collect about 2kg of material using a scoop and a drill, says NASA.

It is the first of three missions using unmanned spacecraft before China attempts to land a crew and build a base on the lunar south pole.

Four countries – the US, Russia, China and India – have landed spacecraft on the moon.

The big race to space

The far side of the moon is an increasingly popular destination. Last year, India celebrated as its Chandrayaan-3 became the first spacecraft to land on the lunar south pole.

NASA intends to make history by sending the first humans near the lunar south pole in 2026 with its Artemis mission, and eventually build a habitable base there.

China says it plans to get there in 2030, but NASA’s administrator Bill Nelson recently said he thinks they’re speeding up their plans.

“The latest date they’ve said they’re going to land is 2030 but that keeps moving up,” he told the House Committee on Appropriations in April.

“It is incumbent on us to get there first,” he said.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/chinese-mission-set-to-blast-off-to-far-side-of-moon-what-you-need-to-know-about-nasa-and-chinas-space-race-13127521

Ms Noem, who is being vetted as the Republican candidate for vice president, has written in her upcoming book that she shot the 14-month-old dog, named Cricket, after the wirehaired pointer tried to bite her.

A potential running mate for Donald Trump in the US election has continued to defend shooting dead her family’s puppy after saying the animal was “extremely dangerous”.

South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has told Fox News the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, who was named Cricket, was a “working dog” and “not a puppy”.

She said in the interview that the female dog had “come to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive”, adding that the animal had “massacred” a neighbour’s livestock on the day she shot it dead around 20 years ago.

The Republican governor continued: “At the time, I had small children, a lot of small kiddos that worked around our business and people, and I wanted to make sure that they were safe.”

Ms Noem, who is being vetted as the Republican candidate for vice president in this year’s US election, also said the dog was “extremely dangerous”.

The account of Ms Noem killing the wirehaired pointer was first reported by The Guardian last week after it obtained a copy of her book, named No Going Back: The Truth On What’s Wrong With Politics And How We Move America Forward, which is due for release this month.

She has since defended her behaviour multiple times.

The mother-of-three writes in her book that she had taken Cricket on a bird hunting trip with older dogs in the hopes of calming her down.

However, she claims the dog attacked a family’s chickens and then “whipped around to bite me”.

Ms Noem says she therefore led the dog to a gravel pit and shot it dead.

Political rivals have criticised Ms Noem since the story emerged as experts who work with hunting dogs said she could have trained the animal rather than killing it.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trumps-potential-running-mate-kristi-noem-continues-to-defend-shooting-dead-extremely-dangerous-puppy-13127425

Joint bid comes as media company’s board is considering merger deal with Skydance Media

In the latest twist in Paramount Global’s M&A saga, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management have made a bid to take Paramount private with an all-cash buyout offer of $26 billion.

Sony and private-equity giant Apollo submitted a letter with the non-binding offer Wednesday to Paramount Global, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The bid, which would include the assumption of debt and could be negotiated, would be a premium over the company’s current $22 billion enterprise value.

The tag-teamed buyout bid comes as Paramount Global board’s special committee established to consider M&A proposals is evaluating the best and final offer from Skydance Media to merge Paramount and Skydance while keeping Paramount Global public. Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, is known to prefer consummating a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, whose bid is backed by RedBird Capital Partners and KKR.

Popular on Variety

Reps for Paramount Global and the board’s special committee declined to comment. Reps for Apollo and Sony Entertainment didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Paramount Global jumped 13% on news of the offer from Apollo and Sony Entertainment, closing at $13.86 per share Thursday.

It’s not clear how Paramount’s board will proceed on the Sony-Apollo proposal, having rejected previous overtures from the private-equity firm. The company has an exclusive negotiating window with Skydance that ends Friday (May 3), but discussions among the parties could extend beyond that.

If it happens, the combination of Sony Pictures with Paramount Pictures would likely result in mass layoffs — and knock the number of major Hollywood studios from five to four, after Disney took over 20th Century. Sony Corp., which acquired Columbia Pictures in 1990 for $3.5 billion, is the largest studio operator in the industry that does not have a broad-scale direct-to-consumer streaming play.

Amid the deal wrangling, Bob Bakish earlier this week was removed as CEO of Paramount Global, replaced by a triumvirate of senior execs: CBS chief George Cheeks, Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy, president and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.

Word emerged last month that Sony was mulling a joint bid with Apollo for the entirety of Paramount Global. Apollo had previously offered more than $27 billion for Paramount Global (including debt) and prior to that floated an $11 billion offer for just Paramount Pictures. Both of Apollo’s prior offers were rebuffed by the Paramount Global board’s special committee.

Under the proposed bid with Apollo, Sony would be the majority owner of the combined company. Sony Corp. would merge Sony Pictures Entertainment into a joint venture with Paramount Global. Sony and Apollo would both contribute cash to finance the deal. What’s unclear is what would happen to the 28 local TV stations CBS owns; FCC rules bar foreign entities (i.e. Tokyo-based Sony) from having majority ownership control of broadcast TV stations, so Sony would need to carve out a separate U.S. ownership structure for the station group.

Source : https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/sony-apollo-paramount-global-acquisition-offer-cash-1235981220

US President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic”, grouping them together with Russia and China as countries that “don’t want immigrants”.

His criticism of Japan comes just weeks after he called the US-Japan alliance “unbreakable” during a state visit from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

India is also a key US partner, despite US concerns about human rights and religious freedoms there.

The White House says that Mr Biden meant no offence to either country.

Speaking to a predominantly Asian-American audience at a campaign fundraising event on Wednesday evening, Mr Biden said that the US election this November was about “freedom, America and democracy”.

“Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” he added. “Think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble. Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants.”

The BBC contacted the US embassies of Japan, India, China and Russia for comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.

The comments, however, have drawn criticism from US commentators.

On X, formerly Twitter, Elbridge Colby, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence in the Trump administration, wrote that Japan and India “are two of our very stoutest and important allies”.

“We should speak to them with respect, which they command and deserve,” he added. “Applying parochial progressive views to our allies is patronising and foolish.”

Although Japan, India and China have relatively few foreign-born workers, Russia is heavily reliant on migrant labour, much of it drawn from Central Asia.

While economic growth has been sluggish in Japan and China, Russia’s militarised economy rebounded slightly last year as its war with Ukraine continues, despite international sanctions.

India, meanwhile, has experienced steady growth and surpassed the UK in 2023 to become the world’s fifth-largest economy.

The White House denied that Mr Biden’s comments were meant in a derogatory sense, with national security spokesman John Kirby saying he was making a wider point on US immigration policy.

“Our allies and partners know well in tangible ways how President Biden values them, their friendship, their co-operation” Mr Kirby said. “They understand how much he completely and utterly values the idea of alliances and partnerships.”

Sadanand Dhume, a South Asia expert at the Washington DC-based American Enterprise Institute, told the BBC that Mr Biden’s comments would probably be received poorly in India as it experiences a “nationalist upsurge”.

“It will confirm the idea among a section of Indians that Mr Biden is not friendly to India,” he said. “They will not take kindly to having been clubbed along with authoritarian countries like China.”

In late April, a US Department of State report found “significant” human rights abuses in India, which its government said “is deeply biased and reflects a very poor understanding of India.”

In the longer term, however, Mr Dhume said that remarks are a “tempest in a teacup” and “unlikely to significantly affect US-Indian relations.”

While Japan has for decades had some of the world’s most restrictive immigration policies, it has recently sought to address a steadily shrinking population by facilitating the entry of foreign workers.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68947042

Scientists say the male Sumatran orangutan – named Rakus – selectively ripped off leaves and chewed on them, before applying the resulting mixture precisely on to an injured area below his right eye.

An orangutan has been observed using a plant with healing properties to treat a wound on its face, in what scientists say is a first for wild animals.

Biologists witnessed the male Sumatran orangutan – named Rakus – chewing the leaves of a climbing plant known as Akar Kuning.

He applied the juicy mixture that was produced on to a wound on his right cheek for more than 30 minutes, until the injury was completely covered.

Scientists said he selectively ripped off leaves and chewed on them, before applying the resulting mixture precisely on to the injured area, just below his right eye.

There was no sign of infection in the following days, and in less than five days the wound was closed before healing completely inside a month, the researchers added.

The Akar Kuning plant, which is found in tropical forests of South East Asia, is known for its pain relieving and anti-inflammatory effects and is often used in traditional medicine to treat diseases such as dysentery, diabetes and malaria.

Rakus was not observed putting it anywhere else, so researchers concluded he was probably using the medicinal plant to treat the wound.

Dr Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, said Rakus had sustained the wound three days earlier, probably during a fight with a neighbouring male.

She said testing of the plant’s chemical compounds showed it had a type of alkaloid, which contains “antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antioxidant, and other biological activities of relevance to wound healing”.

Rakus was also observed resting more than usual after being wounded.

Dr Laumer said: “Sleep positively affects wound healing as growth hormone release, protein synthesis and cell division are increased during sleep.”

What was less clear to the team was how the ape came to know of Akar Kuning’s healing properties.

Dr Laumer said orangutans at the Suaq Balimbing research site in Indonesia “rarely eat the plant… [but] individuals may accidentally touch their wounds while feeding on this plant and thus unintentionally apply the plant’s juice to their wounds.”

In other words, Rakus may have discovered its benefits by accident.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/orangutan-seen-using-medicinal-plant-to-treat-wound-in-first-for-wild-animals-13127804

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in prison and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.

The Sept. 2, 2019, blaze was the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history, and prompted changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and several ongoing lawsuits.

Captain Jerry Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year. The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seaman’s manslaughter. It was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.

Family members pleaded with U.S. District Judge George Wu to give Boylan the maximum 10-year sentence in an impassioned hearing. Many cried, and Robert Kurtz, father of the sole deckhand killed, Alexandra Kurtz, brought a small container with him up to the lectern to address Boylan and the court.

“This is all I have of my daughter,” he said.

Yadira Alvarez is the mother of 16-year-old Berenice Felipe, who volunteered at an animal shelter and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, and was the youngest of the 34 victims killed on the boat.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/boat-fire-california-captain-boylan-sentencing-79f032df2cc6ae1140eb8ca6bc87e837

Yeomni Park, who defected from North Korea to China at the age of 13 in 2007, claimed that she was scouted twice to be part of the squad, but wasn’t ultimately selected because of her ‘family status.’ She alleged that members of the ‘pleasure squad’ are selected meticulously by visiting each school in North Korea and looking for ‘pretty girls.’

A defector from North Korea has claimed that the country’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un selects ’25 virgin girls every year to be a part of his ‘pleasure squad.’ Yeonmi Park, YouTuber, author and American conservative activist, told The Daily Star that each woman in the squad is picked based on their looks and political inclination.

Park , who defected from North Korea to China at the age of 13 in 2007, claimed that she was scouted twice to be part of the squad, but wasn’t ultimately selected because of her ‘family status.’ She said that the practice was started by Kim Jong Un’s father, Korea’s previous supreme leader Kim Jong II, sometime in the 1970s.

She alleged that members of the ‘pleasure squad’ are selected meticulously by visiting each school in North Korea and looking for ‘pretty girls.’ After the first round of selection, which involves a family background check, the selected girls are sent for a medical examination to check if they are virgin.

“Once they find some pretty girls, the first thing they do is check into their family status – their political status. They eliminate any girls with family members that have escaped from North Korea, or have relatives in South Korea or other countries,” Park said.

Within the squad, there exist three distinct divisions, Park said. One is adept in the art of massage, while another specialises in singing and dancing. This latter group occasionally graces the public eye as the Moranbong band. The third division, she said, is designated as the ‘sexual activities division.’

“Their duties entail intimate engagements with the dictator and other men. They are trained extensively in the art of pleasing these individuals – this is their sole objective,” Park explained.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/kim-jong-un-allegedly-picks-25-virgin-girls-annually-for-his-pleasure-squad-disturbing-details-surface-article-109794599

A 45-year-old That politician named Prapaporn Choeiwadkoh found herself in deep soup after her husband caught her red handed, having an affair with their 24-year0old adopted son – who is reportedly also a monk.

Husband catches 45-year-old politician having an affair

According to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), 45-year-old Choeiwadkoh was found by her husband Ti, in a compromising situation with 24-year-old Phra Maha. Reports have said that Ti drove for five hours and then found her having an affair with their adopted son.

This happened Ti got suspicious of the duo’s possible affair. Last year, the couple had adopted Phra Maha from a temple out of ‘compassion’. According to media reports, Ti even recorded a video of the two and it quickly went viral on social media.

The news spread like wildfire on social media, with several people saying that this incident looks to them as the script of a fictional show and they find it hard to believe that something like this could happen in real life.

Source : https://www.news9live.com/viral-news/husband-catches-thai-politician-having-an-affair-with-their-24-yr-old-son-whos-a-monk-2520681

A 6-year-old boy was forced by his father to run on a treadmill because he was “too fat,” a video played inside Superior Court in New Jersey’s Ocean City suggested. Despite falling multiple times the father of the kid seen in the footage kept on pushing the former to run. The young child could not survive and later died due to blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation. Corey Micciolo’s case was heard today.

Christopher Gregor, father of Micciolo, is facing a trial for allegedly killing his son. The alleged child abuse took place at the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness center in March 2021. The young boy died days after the incident, where despite injuries he was forced to run on a treadmill, as per the footage obtained by CourtTV.com.

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NEW: Mother breaks down in court as she watches her son’s father abuse her child by making him run on the treadmill because he was “too fat.”

New Jersey father Christopher Gregor is accused of killing his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo.

New footage shows the boy repeatedly face… pic.twitter.com/aVKknkOGd5

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 1, 2024

The disturbing video showed Gregor biting Corey’s head after the latter fell off multiple times due to the exercise machine’s excessive speed. Knowing that the child was unable to run, footage captured Gregor walking up to the treadmill to increase the speed time and again.

At one point when the little boy’s legs gave up, Gregor lifted him and made him stand on the treadmill. Corey’s knees folded back and the youngster gets back on before he stumbles off again. The struggle to stay on the machine leads to finally forcing the father to lower the inclination and speed. Now, the 31-year-old is facing charges such as first-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child.

The first witness to testify was the boy’s mother, Bre Micciolo, who broke down in tears as she saw the horrifying footage. Bre Micciolo, according to the US Sun outlet, reported her son’s injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency a few days before his death.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/christopher-gregors-murder-trial-video-of-6-yr-old-son-corey-micciolo-to-run-on-treadmill-played-in-new-jersey-court-article-109763006

Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday (May 1) declared violence against women a “scourge” and a “national crisis”, after protests in several major cities.

Meeting state premiers, Anthony Albanese announced a raft of measures and funding to tackle “toxic male extremist views”, curb deepfake pornography and fund help for victims.

Albanese told Australians that “we all have to take responsibility” for stamping out violence.

So far this year, 28 women have been killed in the country – an average of one death every four days.

By comparison, 14 women died in the same period last year.

The deaths have sparked a reckoning, with domestic violence survivors and support services demanding stricter laws at nationwide protests last week.

Albanese on Wednesday announced new legislation to ban deep fake pornography and additional funding for the country’s online watchdog to pilot age assurance technologies.

He also announced A$925 million (US$598 million) in funding to bolster support services for those fleeing violent situations.

Domestic violence services said the announcement was a step in the right direction.

“WE NEED TO LEARN”

Our Watch chief executive officer Patty Kinnersly told AFP every death reflected a woman who had been “robbed” of her future.

She welcomed the focus on online content, given the increasing role of technology in perpetuating gender violence.

“This issue must remain a priority, so that all Australian women and their children can not only live free from violence, but thrive,” she said.

No to Violence chief executive Phillip Ripper added more needed to be done to understand what drives men to be violent.

“We must keep bringing that to the centre of the conversation,” he told AFP.

“There’s a lot that needs to be done to understand, who are the men who use violence? What leads them to use violence? And most importantly, what are the pathways out of using violence – we have so much we need to learn.”

TOO MANY DEATHS

Among the deaths that have rocked the country is that of Molly Ticehurst, a 28-year-old mother who was allegedly murdered last month by her former partner after he was given bail for other serious alleged offences.

These included the alleged rape, stalking and intimidation and destruction of Ticehurst’s property.

New data from the Australian government shows that between 2022 and 2023, there were 34 women killed by a former or current partner, a 28 per cent increase from the previous year.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/australian-pm-says-violence-against-women-national-crisis-4305271

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas on Wednesday to accept the latest proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, saying the “time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and pause the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.

But a key sticking point appeared to remain — whether the deal would completely end Israel’s offensive as Hamas has demanded.

Blinken met with Israeli leaders throughout the day on the last stop of his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October, trying to push through what has been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas. The U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar hope to avert an Israeli offensive into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.

Throughout months of talks, Hamas has said the freeing of all the hostages it holds must bring a permanent halt to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

The proposed deal now at the center of talks raises that possibility, according to leaked details that were confirmed by an Egyptian official and a Hamas official. But Hamas is seeking to strengthen the language to ensure a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip, the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations. The group said it is likely to give its response to the proposal on Thursday.

In public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staunchly rejected stopping the war before Hamas is destroyed. In a sign of the challenges in the negotiations, Netanyahu in his talks with Blinken on Wednesday repeated his vow to launch the offensive on Rafah, which he says is Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza.

Blinken said Israel has made “very important” compromises in cease-fire efforts and it is now up to Hamas to get the deal done.

“There’s no time for further haggling. The deal is there,” Blinken said, shortly before he was to leave Israel.

Earlier in the day, he said in talks with Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal. “No delays, no excuses. The time is now,” he said.

Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis, pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine and driven around 80% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Blinken said there has been “meaningful progress” in efforts to increase the flow of aid. On Wednesday, Israel reopened its Erez crossing for deliveries into northern Gaza for the first time since it was damaged in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Hanging over the cease-fire negotiations is the possibility of an Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population has fled, cramming into vast tent camps and other shelters. On Tuesday, Netanyahu vowed to go ahead with the assault with or without a cease-fire deal.

“The operation in Rafah doesn’t depend on anything. The prime minister made this clear to Secretary Blinken,” Netanyahu’s office said after the two met Wednesday. Hard-line members of Netanyahu’s coalition, on whom he depends to keep his government in power, have railed against any deal that prevents a Rafah attack as a victory for Hamas.

The United States has staunchly supported Israel’s campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza since Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. But the U.S. has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians and has been outspoken against a move on Rafah. American officials say they oppose a major offensive but that if Israel conducts one, it must first evacuate civilians.

In Rafah, Palestinians clung to hope that, after months of reported near-deals, this time a cease-fire would be sealed and avert an attack.

Salwa Abu Hatab, a woman who fled Khan Younis who is now in a tent camp, said she wants to go home.

“Do you think we like life in tents? We are tired and suffering,” she said. “Every day they say there is a truce and negotiations, and in the end it fails. We hope they will succeed this time.”

Twenty-four people have died after a section of a mountainside highway collapsed in China’s Guangdong province, following days of heavy rain.

Thirty others were taken to hospital after a 17.9m (58 feet) stretch of the Meilong expressway crumbled at 02:10 local time (19:10 BST) on Wednesday.

Authorities have yet to state the cause of the incident.

Images on state media showed a massive gash in the forested mountainside below the highway.

The 30 people in hospital are “not currently at risk”, state media report. The provincial government has dispatched 500 emergency response personnel to the scene.

State media initially reported that 19 people had died but local authorities later said 24 people had been killed, with the number of injured persons still at 30.

Footage that appeared to have been taken shortly after the collapse showed flames and black smoke billowing from below the highway.

A total of 20 vehicles fell into the collapsed portion of the road, authorities said.

Another video carried by state media showed a smoking pile of charred cars partially covered in mud.

Guangdong, China’s most populous province, was hit with flash floods last week that killed four people and displaced 110,000 others.

The floods also damaged dozens of houses, shut schools and caused flight cancellations and delays. Authorities have estimated economic losses of 140.6m yuan ($19.4m; £15.5m).

The wild weather continued over the weekend, when a tornado ravaged a factory district in the provincial capital of Guangzhou, killing five people and wounding 33 others.

Hailstones the size of golf balls were also seen raining down on the city.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8vzydm3vq8o

We could see the larger Chinese ship moving closer, both our ships going at high speed. The Chinese crew were close enough for us to see their faces. Two of them filmed us, as we filmed them.

The BBC was onboard the Philippines coast guard vessel BRP Bagacay when it was accosted by Chinese vessels on Tuesday.

Filipino crews raced to hang yellow foam barriers over the side, preparing for a collision. Suddenly the Chinese ship made a sharp turn across our bow, forcing the Filipino captain to slow down abruptly. The two vessels were less than five metres apart.

We were racing towards Scarborough Shoal, a tiny coral atoll 220km (137 miles) west of the Philippines coast, but also claimed by China.

The Chinese ships were determined to stop us, and there were a lot of them – at one point of time there were 10 of them from the coast guard and maritime militia.

The Filipino captain relied on the speed and manoeuvrability of his Japanese-made ship to outrun the Chinese, and got to within 600m of the shoal, the closest yet, he told us.

But there was a new barrier installed recently by the Chinese, just visible under the water. Their ships were right behind us, two positioning themselves on either side of the Filipino ship, at which point they began firing their powerful water cannon.

We were rushed inside, from where we could hear the jets of water thundering against the metal walls of the ship. They smashed the awning in the stern, and mangled a railing on one side.

The second ship in our convoy, carrying supplies for Filipino fishermen, was more badly damaged, after taking 10 direct hits from the water cannon.

This game of maritime cat-and-mouse is nothing new in the South China Sea. But these encounters have become more frequent, and more serious, since President Bongbong Marcos authorised the coastguard to challenge the Chinese presence in disputed areas far more robustly than in the past.

“The Chinese government has always said there is a red line”, said Commodore Jay Tarriela, the coast guard spokesman for the West Philippines Sea, the Filipino name for the areas it claims.

“They said we could not cross the 12 nautical mile limit from the shoal. But under this administration we have already broken that red line, to show that China is not respecting international law.”

The mission we were on is a part of that stronger response.

Officially its goal was to supply food and fuel to the Filipino fishermen who have worked on Scarborough Shoal for decades, but who have complained of constant harassment since the Chinese coast guard took control of it in 2012.

It was also to demonstrate the determination of the Philippines to press its claim to the shoal, which lies within the country’s legally-recognised exclusive economic zone, and is much closer to the Philippines than to China.

An international court ruling in 2016 said major elements of China’s claims in the South China Sea, such as its nine-dash line along with a number of activities in Philippine waters, were unlawful. China says it does not recognise the ruling.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51n21zr941o

Riot police in Georgia fired tear gas and water cannon into crowds protesting against a bill seen by the opposition as targeting media freedoms.

Thousands waving Georgian and European Union flags gathered outside parliament for a second night to protest what they see as a Russian-inspired law.

MPs approved the second reading of the controversial “foreign agent” bill on Wednesday.

The EU warns it could harm Tbilisi’s ambitions of joining the bloc.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she was following events in Georgia with “great concern”.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, she added: “The Georgian people want a European future for their country. Georgia is at a crossroads. It should stay the course on the road to Europe.”

The bill cleared its second reading with a vote of 83 to 23. If it becomes law, organisations would be required to state whether they were funded from abroad.

Georgia’s governing party wants it enacted by the end of the month, but critics say it is authoritarian.

The country has been rocked by weeks of protests over the issue. On Tuesday night, there were similar clashes between police and protesters on Rustaveli Avenue, outside parliament.

Several people were injured, including Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the main opposition party United National Movement (UNM). He posted a picture of his bruised face on social media and later appeared in parliament, his face heavily bandaged.

Eyewitnesses accused some police officers of physically attacking protesters and EU foreign police chief Josep Borrell said he strongly condemned violence against Georgians “who were peacefully demonstrating against the law on foreign influence”.

Deputy interior minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said six officers were hurt and 63 people arrested and he complained that “the rally turned completely violent”. He said Mr Khabeishvili had been hurt while trying to break through a police cordon, although his party said he had been beaten by police.

Georgia was granted EU candidate status last December and polls suggest about 80% of the population is in favour of joining.

Protests against the bill began in mid-April, after the ruling Georgian Dream party proposed measures requiring non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent media to register as organisations “bearing the interests of a foreign power”, if they receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68933064

One of Dubai’s popular beaches could be transformed into a mangrove forest

DUBAI sets its sight on the world record yet again with plans to build the world’s biggest beach complete with high-tech bio domes.

The Middle-Eastern supercity is already home to numerous architectural marvels from the tallest building to the biggest mall.

Dubai holds over 425 Guinness world records – more than any other city in the Middle East.

But this latest project could become the next wonder as a 45-mile shoreline is set to be transformed into a mangrove paradise.

The project developer, URB, has unveiled plans to plant 100million mangroves on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

The ambitious proposal features futuristic glass domes which will house a visitor hub, botanic museum and conservation centre.

Inside the bio domes, visitors could inspect various plants while learning more about mangroves and the flora of the area.

Tourists can also take a leisurely stroll along the coastline while enjoying the surrounding nature and breathtaking views of the ocean.

For fitness fanatics, there will be running and cycling tracks along with beach sports facilities.

The infrastructures will also include social spaces and areas dedicated to biosaline agriculture – a farming method using salty water.

Apart from recreational benefits, the project is aimed at boosting educational tourism and local ecosystem while blending the nature with leisure.

CEO of URB, Baharash Bagherian, explained: “Dubai Mangroves is a testament of how urban and environmental innovation can work in harmony as a model for cities worldwide, demonstrating the transformative power of integrating ecological preservation with urban growth.

“Yet this project is much more than coastal regeneration or resilience. It’s about setting a global standard for how cities can balance the needs of the planet with the needs of the people.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/11241149/dubai-worlds-biggest-beach-project

Bill Rigdon can build you a closet that locks from the inside and has electrified door handles. He can install a device in your walls that will shoot colored pepper spray to temporarily blind intruders and stain their clothes for easy identification should they try to run. He can fortify your walk-in pantry with ballistics-grade composite to withstand nuclear fallout. He will also remind you that you will need a place to pee while riding out the end times. “I once had a Fox News reporter who had a whole plan for a basement bunker where 13, 14 people could stay for a period of time,” Rigdon, who also consulted on David Fincher’s 2002 movie Panic Room, tells me. “But there was no bathroom.” Rigdon would neither confirm nor deny the client was Roger Ailes.

Rigdon, a jovial Angeleno who also trades in yachts, armored vehicles, and art, is one of the longest-running figures in the panic-room industry, having started out 40 years ago building bunkers for Mormons in Nevada. But Rigdon’s business, like so many others in this niche market, has been booming out east in the last year or so, as New York’s wealthiest residents clamor to protect themselves in a city they see as increasingly doomed. “I’ve never been busier,” Rigdon says.

David Vranicar, who owns Fortified Ballistic Security in Florida, agrees that there’s a bit of a boom in the city right now. “People are not feeling safe the way they used to,” he tells me. “New York has gotten really busy for us lately.” Another panic-room outfitter, Steve Humble of Creative Home Engineering, saw his first bump in business here around the anti-police-violence protests that erupted in the summer of 2020. “That wave has kind of died down but it was replaced in large part by the persistent uptick in violent crime in large cities like New York.” (Violent crimes actually fell in the city last year, though assaults remain high.) New Yorkers with the means to do it are “locking down,” he says, from reinforcing a single front door in their West Village townhouses to tricking out secret cellars in their Upper East Side mansions.

The safe room has always had a certain presence in New York. In addition to roaming celebrities and billionaires, there are government officials and embassies who require these James Bond–style features in their palatial homes. (Rigdon says he signs NDAs for all his clients but was able to disclose that they include a “famous piano player from England who wears funny glasses” and “a TV host who’s very famous with a friend named Gayle,” and he once got a call from Jeffrey Epstein’s brother.) The Henry Block House, a Beaux-Arts brownstone on East 76th Street that was once owned by Grace Kelly, has a secret cellar and separate safe room. Another Beaux-Arts mansion at 854 Fifth Avenue has bulletproof windows and “a metal-padded safe room with a Faraday cage to fend off electromagnetic fields,” according to the Robb Report, because it was once home to the president of Yugoslavia. Gwyneth Paltrow was said to have had a safe room in her former West Village Greek Revival townhouse, although a spokesman later said she just “stored her clothes in it.” Now the market has expanded from the notoriously rich to the more mundane ranks of the merely ultrawealthy, Fortune 500 CEOs and the like who are non-famous but just as worried about roving home invaders, thieves, and kidnappers.

Vranicar tells me he recently outfitted an apartment in 1 Central Park West. The condo in question is on a high floor and has been reinforced with steel and ballistic doors, with facial-recognition technology that unlocks them with just a glance. (The owner can also enroll their household staff so that, at least during certain hours, their faces unlock the doors too.) Do Vranicar’s clients really believe that an angry hoard could overtake the 24-hour doorman? “Absolutely,” he says. “I hate to sound paranoid, but I don’t trust the bodyguards. I don’t trust security. I don’t trust anybody.”

I asked the appraiser Jonathan Miller, who has his eyes on homebuyer and rental data across all five boroughs, whether security measures like panic rooms are truly on the rise. “We’ve seen it in gut renovations over the last three to four years,” Miller said. “It’s like adding a jacuzzi.” Still, he sees it as a fad, and one confined to the very high end of homeowners. The idea that townhouses are not as in demand because of security concerns in New York, as the New York Post recently claimed, is “totally false,” he told me, saying that the share of the market remains consistent at around 2 percent. One luxury agent, Maria Avellaneda at Compass, who sold a bulletproof glass townhouse on the Upper East Side in 2020, said she has, however, observed more townhouse owners fortifying their doors and co-ops adding more security personnel.

Source : https://www.curbed.com/article/new-york-panic-room-boom-security.html

Mohammad Moazzeni, head of Shiraz University in Fars, made the offer to students demonstrating against Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas in Gaza, Iranian state-owned outlet Press TV reports.

One of Iran’s most prestigious universities is offering scholarships to US students who have been expelled for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Mohammad Moazzeni, head of Shiraz University in Fars, made the offer to students demonstrating against Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas in Gaza, Iranian state-owned outlet Press TV reports.

“Students and even professors who have been expelled or threatened with expulsion can continue their studies at Shiraz University and I think that other universities in Shiraz as well as Fars Province are also prepared [to provide the conditions],” he said, according to the outlet.

US students have been facing arrest or dismissal from their colleges over their actions in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, with many students also calling for their universities to divestment from companies that are supporting Israel.

The Iranian regime backs Hamas against Israel, which has killed at least 34,000 people in its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israel launched continuous strikes and a ground invasion of the enclave as it vowed to destroy Hamas for its October 7 attacks which left at least 1,200 people dead, with some 250 taken hostage.

Moazzeni added that he was “announcing Shiraz University’s decision to offer scholarships to students expelled from European and American universities.”

Shiraz University has been approached for comment.

Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.

After a couple of hours of scuffles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields formed lines and slowly separated the groups. That quelled the violence, and the scene was calm as day broke.

Source : https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/136135/iran-university-scholarship-students-expelled-gaza-war-protests

The shamed movie mogul, who entered the courtroom in a wheelchair, could face a fresh trial as early as September following last week’s decision that improper rulings by a judge meant he did not receive a fair trial before being convicted of rape in 2020.

US prosecutors plan to retry Harvey Weinstein after his 2020 conviction for rape was overturned in New York.

The disgraced movie mogul, who has been in jail for four years, appeared in a Manhattan court on Wednesday for the first time since that conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week.

A retrial could happen as soon as September.

“We believe in this case and will be retrying this case,” prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said.

In April, the state’s highest court ruled that Weinstein did not receive a fair trial – finding the hearing was prejudiced by “egregious” improper rulings by the judge, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that were not part of the case.

Just days after the landmark #MeToo ruling was overturned, he was taken to hospital, with his lawyer Arthur Aidala describing him as “somewhat of a train wreck health-wise” but still “sharp as a tack” mentally.

Weinstein, 72, has had cardiac issues, diabetes, sleep apnoea and eye problems for some time, and was “in constant pain”, Mr Aidala said.

He entered court in a wheelchair pushed by a court officer for the preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 following the landmark 2020 trial in New York.

He remains behind bars as he was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison for that crime, and is also appealing against this conviction.

Ms Blumberg told the judge that Ms Mann, who was in court, is prepared to testify again and has said she wants everyone to know that the defendant “may have power” but “she has the truth”.

Ms Haley’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, told reporters that her client has not decided whether she will give evidence a second time, as she found the experience traumatising and painful. She was not in court, Ms Allred said.

Once considered the most powerful man in Hollywood, the first allegations against Weinstein emerged in 2017.

Dozens of women came forward claiming he bullied, pressured, coerced, or overpowered them while demanding sexual favours.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/harvey-weinstein-prosecutors-seek-retrial-after-rape-conviction-overturned-13126735

Mounting tensions on U.S. campuses boiled over on Wednesday when pro-Israel supporters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, hours after police arrested activists who occupied a building at Columbia University and cleared a tent city from its campus.

Eyewitness videos from the University of California at Los Angeles, verified by Reuters, showed people wielding sticks or poles to hammer on wooden boards being used as makeshift barricades to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters before police were called to the campus.

The university canceled classes for the day on Wednesday, and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the school would conduct an investigation “that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals.”

In a statement, Block said the “appalling” assault on pro-Palestinian demonstrators, which came hours after their encampment was declared an unlawful assembly by UCLA, was committed “by a group of instigators.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who returned to the city early from a trip to Washington, and California Governor Gavin Newsom each issued separate statements condemning the overnight violence and calling for an investigation.

Neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the university answered queries from Reuters asking whether any arrests were made at the confrontation, which began around 11 p.m. local time and went on for two or three hours.

In New York City, scores of police officers in helmets and tactical gear arrested pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupying Hamilton Hall, an academic building at Columbia University.

Undergraduate students watching the extraordinary scene, many jeering at the police, fled into nearby buildings as police also cleared out a nearby protest encampment that had inspired similar protests at campuses across the country and abroad.

Police arrested about 300 people at Columbia and City College of New York, Mayor Eric Adams said. Many of those arrested were charged with trespassing and criminal mischief.

The clashes at UCLA and in New York were part of the biggest outpouring of U.S. student activism since the anti-racism rallies and marches of 2020.

The protests follow the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

Students have rallied or set up tent encampments at dozens of schools across the U.S. in recent days, expressing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government. Many of the schools have called in police to quell the protests.

With the presidential election coming in November, Republican lawmakers have accused some university administrators of ignoring antisemitic rhetoric and harassment, and some have demanded Columbia’s President Minouche Shafik resign.

Many protesters, some of whom are Jewish, reject allegations of antisemitism. Shafik has said the protests brought rancor to life at Columbia and created a “threatening environment” for many Jewish students and faculty, while also blaming some episodes of harassment and hostile rhetoric on outsiders drawn to the busy Manhattan streets surrounding the campus.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has angered many protesters by funding and arming Israel, plans to give a speech on antisemitism next week at a Holocaust memorial event.

“Americans have the right to peacefully protest,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokesperson, told reporters. “Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful.”

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump praised the police raid Columbia’s campus, saying it “was a beautiful thing to watch.” He called the ousted protesters “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”

UCLA PROTESTERS REPORT VIOLENT ATTACKS

Before the clashes in Los Angeles, UCLA officials declared that an encampment on its campus was unlawful, violated university policy and included people unaffiliated with the campus.

Afterwards, counter-demonstrators – many of them masked and some apparently older than most students – can be seen in videos throwing objects and trying to smash or pull down the wooden and steel barriers erected to shield the encampment.

Some screamed pro-Jewish comments as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to fight them off.

“I just didn’t think they would ever get to this,” said Kaia Shah, a pro-Palestinian protester and researcher at UCLA, “where our protest is met by counter-protesters who are violently hurting us, inflicting pain on us, when we are not doing anything to them.”

Demonstrators on both sides used pepper spray, and fights broke out. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators said the counter-protesters threw fireworks at them and beat them with bats and sticks.

Benjamin Kersten, a UCLA graduate student and member of the pro-Palestinian group Jewish Voice for Peace, called it “a devastating night of violence.”

“The encampment would be a peaceful effort were it not for the continuous presence of counter-protesters and agitators,” he wrote in a text message.

Police said UCLA had called them to restore order and maintain public safety within the encampment. Video later showed police clearing a central quad beside the encampment and erecting a metal crowd-control barrier in front of it.

The atmosphere was calmer on Wednesday. Hundreds of police officers were on campus and lining its perimeter. It was unclear how many arrests were made or the number of people injured.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/police-move-quell-clashes-los-angeles-pro-palestinian-campus-protest-2024-05-01

After a previously aborted attempt in 2013, Milan’s council made another attempt to ban ice cream and pizza after midnight from the streets of the city earlier this month.

Milan has once again backed down on attempts to ban ice cream from its streets after midnight.

Following widespread criticism, the city’s council has U-turned on its plans that would have cracked down on late night snacking on its streets.

The council claimed the proposed ban was to protect the “tranquility” of residents, but for many a late-night gelato is a part of Italian culture.

Earlier this month, Milan’s local government filed a legislative starting paper which would have banned the serving of ice cream and pizzas outdoors in the northern Italian city late at night, starting from 17 May.

However, following a widespread backlash, security councillor Marco Granelli has said the local government has backed down.

He said the new law will instead focus on drinks, especially alcohol, and ice cream and takeaway foods will not be banned.

“We can say right now that ice cream is not the item we are interested in and will be excluded from the bans,” he said.

“About other food, we are testing different technical options.”

The local government will “collect observations” on the matter until 10 May, Mr Granelli added.

The proposed ban would have covered 12 districts, kicking in from 12.30am on weekdays, and 1.30am on weekends and public holidays, applying to outdoor tables only.

Mr Granelli previously said: “The goal is to seek a balance between socialising and entertainment, and the peace and tranquility of residents.”

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/milan-backs-down-on-plans-to-ban-ice-cream-after-midnight-following-widespread-criticism-13126338

New York City police raided Columbia University late on Tuesday to arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, some of whom had seized an academic building, and to remove a protest encampment the Ivy League school had sought to dismantle for nearly two weeks.
Shortly after police moved in, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik released a letter in which she requested police stay on campus until at least May 17 – two days after graduation – “to maintain order and ensure that encampments are not re-established.”

Within three hours the campus had been cleared of protesters, said a police spokesperson, adding “dozens” of arrests were made.
At the start of the raid around 9 p.m. ET throngs of helmeted police marched onto the elite campus in upper Manhattan, a focal point of student rallies that have spread to dozens of schools across the U.S. in recent days expressing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.
“We’re clearing it out,” the police officers yelled.

Soon after, a long line of officers climbed into Hamilton Hall, an academic building that protesters had broken into and occupied in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Police entered through a second-story window, using a police vehicle equipped with a ladder.
Students standing outside the hall jeered police with shouts of “Shame, shame!”
Police were seen loading dozens of detainees onto a bus, each with their hands bound behind their backs by zip-ties, the entire scene illuminated with flashing red and blue lights of police vehicles.

“Free, free, free Palestine,” chanted protesters outside the building. Others yelled “Let the students go.”
“Columbia will be proud of these students in five years,” said Sweda Polat, one of the student negotiators for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the coalition of student groups that has organized the protests.
She said students did not pose a danger and called on police to back down, speaking as officers shouted at her and others to retreat or leave campus.
PROTEST DEMANDS
Protesters were seeking three demands from Columbia: divestment from companies supporting Israel’s government, greater transparency in university finances, and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined over the protests.
President Shafik this week said Columbia would not divest from finances in Israel. Instead, she offered to invest in health and education in Gaza and make Columbia’s direct investment holdings more transparent.

In her letter released Tuesday, Shafik said the Hamilton Hall occupiers had vandalized University property and were trespassing, and that encampment protesters were suspended for trespassing. The university earlier warned that students taking part in the Hamilton Hall occupation faced academic expulsion.
The occupation began overnight when protesters broke windows, stormed inside and unfurled a banner reading “Hind’s Hall,” saying they were renaming the building for a 6-year-old Palestinian child killed in Gaza by the Israeli military.
The eight-story, neo-classical building has been the site of various student occupations dating back to the 1960s.
At an evening news briefing held a few hours before police entered Columbia, Mayor Eric Adams and city police officials said the Hamilton Hall takeover was instigated by “outside agitators” who lack any affiliation with Columbia and are known to law enforcement for provoking lawlessness.
Police said they based their conclusions in part on escalating tactics in the occupation, including vandalism, use of barricades to block entrances and destruction of security cameras.
One of the student leaders of the protest, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar attending Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, disputed assertions that outsiders led the occupation.
“Disruptions on campus have created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty and a noisy distraction that interferes with the teaching, learning and preparing for final exams,” the university said in a statement on Tuesday before police moved in.
PROTESTS ACROSS COUNTRY
The Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza, and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, have unleashed the biggest outpouring of U.S. student activism since the anti-racism protests of 2020.
Many of the demonstrations across the country have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including Jews opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded as antisemitic for criticizing Israel’s government and expressing support for human rights.
The issue has taken on political overtones in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November, with Republicans accusing some university administrators of turning a blind eye to antisemitic rhetoric and harassment.
White House spokesperson John Kirby on Tuesday called the occupation of campus buildings “the wrong approach.”

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-palestinian-protesters-occupy-building-columbia-university-cnn-2024-04-30/

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, has named a Research and Analysis Wing officer in connection with the alleged plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil last year.

The United States is “regularly working” with India in its investigation into the allegations related to the plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US State Department official has said.

The remarks by US State Department Principal Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel came after The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, named a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer in connection with the alleged plot to kill Pannun on American soil last year.

India on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims, saying that the report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” imputations on a serious matter and that an investigation into the case was underway.

Addressing his daily news conference on Tuesday, Mr Patel said, “We continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian inquiry committee’s work, and we are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates.”

“We’ll also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian Government at senior levels, but beyond that, I’m not going to parse into this further and will defer to the Department of Justice,” Mr Patel said when asked about The Washington Post report, which identified the RAW officer as Vikram Yadav and alleged that he was involved in the plot to assassinate Pannun.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday slammed the report by the US daily.

“The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter,” he said in New Delhi.

Mr Jaiswal said a high-level inquiry committee set up by New Delhi to look into inputs provided by the US on the alleged plot was still probing the case.

“There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others,” he said.

“Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” Mr Jaiswal added.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun.

Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. He has been designated as a terrorist by the Union home ministry under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The allegations about the failed plot to kill Pannun came to the fore weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in September last year of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

India had strongly rejected the charges.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/gurpatwant-singh-pannun-we-expect-accountability-from-us-on-washington-posts-claim-on-india-in-khalistani-terrorist-case-5561655

A 14-year-old boy has died after an attacker armed with a sword went on the rampage in north-east London.

Police were called to reports of a car crashing into a house and people being stabbed in Hainault at about 07:00 BST.

The boy was taken to hospital where he later died.

Four other people, including two police officers, were injured before the suspect – who had been leaping over people’s garden fences – was cornered and Tasered in a front garden.

The 36-year-old man was arrested and the Metropolitan Police said he was in hospital being treated for injuries sustained when the vehicle he was in crashed into the house.

His condition meant he had not yet been interviewed, police added.

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said their investigations had not discovered any previous contact between the man and the police.

Footage shared on social media showed a man with a long knife in Laing Close.

Ch Supt Stuart Bell acknowledged there would be “understandably, a desire for answers and an explanation as to what happened” and officers were working to “establish the full facts”.

Ch Supt Bell said the two Met officers had suffered wounds requiring surgery.

He described the officers’ stab wounds as “significant” but not life-threatening.

The injuries of the two other members of the public were also “not believed to be life-threatening”.

Ch Supt Bell said police did not believe there was any ongoing threat to the wider public and they were not seeking any other suspects.

He added he did not believe it was terror-related and was not a “targeted” attack.

Witness James Fernando said he saw the suspect ask one of his neighbours to take his phone and “tell whoever was on the phone his location”.

The 39-year-old said the neighbour soon noticed the sword and started running.

As she fled, the woman shouted to another neighbour, a boy on his way to school, who was then struck by the attacker as he turned around, he said.

‘Took him down’

Another eyewitness, Chris Bates, who lives in Thurlow Gardens, said he saw the suspect run through the area.

“He ran through the gardens and came out on to the street by the house next door to me,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“The police were there. He then ran down to two doors down, and tried to get on the sort of scaffold, and they Tasered him and took him down.”

Manpreet Singh, who also witnessed the attack, told BBC Radio 5 Live he had walked out of an office when he “heard chaos” on the other side of the road.

“I saw a group of people, five or six of them, trying to fight off a guy – he had a sword in his hand,” he said.

“There was about seven or eight police cars entering that road and, after another 10 minutes, I saw the guy running towards the station and entered the road opposite the station.

“He tried to get into one of the houses but couldn’t get into it and that’s when they Tasered him.”

Hainault London Underground station was closed during the incident and local buses were diverted.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68927027