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CAIRO (AP) — One of Libya’s rival administrations convened for the first time on Thursday in the southern province of Sabha, vowing to end deepening political divisions.
The meeting, far from the capital Tripoli, was the latest sign that Libya remains mired in divisions, months after a U.N.-supported election that was supposed to unify the country in December failed to materialize.
In recent months, the oil-rich country has become once again split between two administrations, one in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and another by Fathi Bashagha, a former interior minister who was elected premier by the east-based parliament in February.
In a televised session, Bashagha sat down with his ministers.
“The era of corruption, chaos and despotism is gone. Today marks the beginning of a new national era where all Libyans will unite to achieve reform, reconstruction and justice,” said Bashagha in his opening statement.
In February, the east-based House of Representatives elected Bashagha to lead a new interim government. The lawmakers there claimed the mandate of interim Prime Minister Dbeibah, who is based in Tripoli, expired after the election failed to take place as planned in December.
Dbeibah, however, stood defiant against efforts to replace his government. He said he will hand over power only to an elected government.
Bashagha’s cabinet met in Sabha, more than 400 miles away from the capital Tripoli.
In the meeting, Bashagha’s cabinet outlined other objectives and policies including the protection of the country’s southern borders and oil facilities.
Since his appointment, Bashagha has been unable to seat his government in the capital, which remains under the control of Dbeibah and allied armed groups. Bashagha had repeatedly said that he would not enter Tripoli by force.
With the two leaders sticking to their positions, tensions have risen, and heavily armed militias mobilized in the western region, including the capital.
The developments have raised fears that fighting could return to Libya after a period of relative calm since warring parties signed a U.N.-brokered cease-fire late in 2020.
The North African country has been wrecked by conflict since the NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
|
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Libya-s-rival-cabinet-holds-first-meeting-away-17116948.php
| 2022-04-21T16:39:48Z
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https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Libya-s-rival-cabinet-holds-first-meeting-away-17116948.php
| false
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday morning's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Pick 3 Morning" game were:
1-4-6, FIREBALL: 1
(one, four, six; FIREBALL: one)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday morning's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Pick 3 Morning" game were:
1-4-6, FIREBALL: 1
(one, four, six; FIREBALL: one)
|
https://www.thehour.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-3-Morning-game-17116883.php
| 2022-04-21T16:42:19Z
|
https://www.thehour.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-3-Morning-game-17116883.php
| false
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BOSTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among five people named Thursday as recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for acting to protect democracy.
Zelenskyy was chosen because of the way he has “marshaled the spirit, patriotism and untiring sacrifice of the Ukrainian people in a life-or-death fight for their country,” as Russia pours in troops and assaults cities and towns, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said.
The foundation said four U.S. officials were chosen for standing up for free and fair elections, as the system is challenged in ways it has never been before.
They are: Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Fulton County, Georgia, elections worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.
Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the awards May 22 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. The award was created by the family of the late president to honor public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good, and is named after Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage.”
“There is no more important issue facing our country, and the world, today than the fight for democracy,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The war in Ukraine has shown the world that we can’t take freedom for granted, and the courage of our elected officials in the U.S. reminds us that as citizens we each have a responsibility to protect our democracy and exercise our fundamental right to vote.”
Cheney chaired the Republican House Conference before being ousted from her post last year because of her unrelenting criticism of former President Donald Trump and statements blaming him for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The foundation said Cheney “broke with most in her party, urged fidelity to the Constitution, and stood her ground with honor and conviction,” and that she has remained a “consistent and courageous voice in defense of democracy.”
Michigan was one of the battleground states where Trump allies demanded further review of the 2020 election. Benson defended the certification of the results.
Protestors showed up at her home one evening in December 2020, angry about what they incorrectly said was voter fraud leading to Trump’s loss. The foundation said Benson defended the will of Michigan voters, repeatedly refused to back down from fulfilling the duties of her office and continues to speak out about the risks to free and fair elections.
Bowers, a Republican, broke ranks with many in his party in December 2020 when he rejected a request from Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani for the Arizona Legislature to step in and replace electors legally pledged for Joe Biden with others who would support Trump.
The foundation said Bowers made a “decision of conscience,” for which he endured persistent harassment and intimidation tactics from Trump supporters, and he acted again to protect the integrity of Arizona elections by stopping a wide-ranging election bill that would eliminate nearly all forms of early voting and require ballots to be counted by hand, though Republicans are still trying to pass these changes.
Moss has worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012 and supervised the absentee ballot operation during the 2020 election. Trump allies falsely claimed she engaged in ballot fraud. The foundation said “despite the onslaught of random, undeserved and malicious attacks,” Moss continues to do the “hard and unseen work to run our democracy.”
|
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/zelenskyy-gets-john-f-kennedy-award-for-defending-democracy/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all
| 2022-04-21T16:44:12Z
|
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/zelenskyy-gets-john-f-kennedy-award-for-defending-democracy/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all
| false
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Which camping rug is best?
Even if you camp or RV to get away from it all, there’s nothing like the finishing touch that feels like home. A camping rug can really tie an outdoor space together and provide an extra level of comfort to make your experience cozier.
Sand Mine Reversible Mats are durable options that come in a variety of colors to customize your outdoor living area. Lightweight and easy to care for, they are a great option for campers and RVers alike.
What to know before you buy a camping rug
Natural vs. synthetic
An outdoor area rug is a small bit of comfort that you can have anywhere you go. The material you choose is largely a matter of preference, but each has its own pros and cons.
Natural camping rugs are made of bamboo, jute or sisal.
- Bamboo and sea grass rugs are easy to care for but not as durable.
- Coco coir is heavy, making it ideal for smaller areas.
- Jute is fire-resistant but can harbor mold and mildew.
- Sisal is strong and durable but can stain easily.
Synthetic rugs made from polypropylene, nylon, acrylic or polyester don’t have the natural beauty of natural fiber rugs, but they do hold up well to the rigors of camping. They are also lightweight and easy to keep clean.
Some synthetic fabric rugs may hold stains, though, and you should be careful with them around fire.
Size and weight
The size you select depends on your intended purpose. If you are looking for something to wipe your feet on before entering your tent or RV, a doormat-size camping rug (or something slightly larger) works just fine. However, if you’re interested in really defining a space outside and creating a separate room, look for a larger area rug.
The weight of your rug matters if you like to pack light. Natural fiber rugs tend to be heavier and take up more space. And the larger the rug, the heavier it will be.
Color
If you prefer a festive campsite, you’ll most likely want a brightly colored or patterned rug. However, some campers prefer to keep their color palette more natural so as to blend in with their surroundings.
What to look for in a quality camping rug
Waterproof
A waterproof rug may be treated, or it may be made of waterproof materials. If the camping rug you select is treated with a waterproofing spray, you may need to re-treat it as the spray wears off.
Natural rugs that are waterproof allow water to soak through without being absorbed. Bamboo and sea grass are good options if you’ll be camping in wet weather.
Quick-drying
Quick-drying rugs are made of breathable materials that easily shed moisture. These may need to be hung on a fence in the sun for faster drying, but a quick-drying rug is less likely to develop mold or mildew.
Easy care
You probably want to spend most of your time outdoors camping, not cleaning. Look for camping rugs that don’t require fussy cleaning products or dramatic cleaning rituals.
Antimicrobial
Mold and mildew don’t have to be inevitable, even when it rains. Some rugs have a special treatment that keeps these (and other microbes) from forming.
Reversible
Get more bang for your buck when you select a reversible camping rug. If you do, make sure to regularly rotate it for even wear.
Edged
Sealed edges keep your outdoor rug looking tidy. Some of these use a strip of fabric for edging, but others may also have a woven edge that makes it even stronger.
How much you can expect to spend on a camping rug
From simple doormat-sized rugs to elaborate and fancy natural fiber options, expect to spend $15-$500.
Camping rug FAQ
How do you care for an outdoor rug?
A. The best camping rugs require only a shake and a quick hosing off to shed most of their dirt and grime. There may be more specific care instructions depending on the type of rug you have, though. Be sure to check with the manufacturer’s care instructions to make sure you won’t need to get more involved than that.
Are camping rugs heavy enough to withstand wind?
A. If you are camping and expecting severe weather, it’s always best to roll up your rugs and secure any outdoor furnishings. If a light breeze is on the horizon, simply weigh your rug down with heavier furniture or tables to keep it secure.
What’s the best camping rug to buy?
Top camping rug
What you need to know: This reversible rug is durable and works in both indoor and outdoor settings.
What you’ll love: It’s available in four sizes and five colors. It has heat-treated edging to resist fraying, and it’s soft and comfortable on bare feet. It’s easy to clean and comes with a carrying bag. It has a UV coating to protect against fading. It’s waterproof.
What you should consider: The carrying bag is not durable.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top camping rug for the money
Plus Haven Store Coco Coir Door Mat
What you need to know: It’s best when you want a durable mat for the front of your tent or the base of your RV steps.
What you’ll love: It’s a natural material that resists dirt and easily repels water. At 17 inches by 30 inches, it’s the perfect size for catching dirt right outside the door. It requires very little maintenance beyond shaking, and it is durable.
What you should consider: Some users reported shedding beyond what the manufacturer says is normal.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
What you need to know: It’s an environmentally friendly option that is large, lightweight and easy to care for.
What you’ll love: It’s made out of 100% recycled straws. The generous size of 6 feet by 9 feet really defines a space. It’s easy to roll up and comes with elastic bands to secure it and a carrying bag. It has GoodWeave certification, which verifies that it’s made without using child labor.
What you should consider: Some users didn’t feel it was durable enough for rigorous outdoor use.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Suzannah Kolbeck writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/reviews/br/sports-fitness-br/fitness-gear-br/best-camping-rug/
| 2022-04-21T16:49:45Z
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https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/reviews/br/sports-fitness-br/fitness-gear-br/best-camping-rug/
| false
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Murder trial hears of ball bearings in boy's head
- Published
A two-year-old boy discovered dead in his father's Edinburgh flat was found with three ball bearings in his head, a trial has heard.
Lukasz Czapla, denies murdering his son Julius by shooting him with a BB (ball bearing) gun, repeatedly stabbing him with a skewer and suffocating him with a pillow on 20 or 21 November, 2020.
Patrycja Szcześniak feared her former partner had killed their son after receiving a text from him.
She found Julius dead at the flat.
Mr Czapla, a former IT technician at Fife College in Dunfermline, offered to plead guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide but this was not accepted by the Crown. He has lodged a special defence of diminished responsibility.
The jury at the High Court in Edinburgh heard in agreed evidence that on the evening of 20 November, or the morning of the following day, Mr Czapla, 41, killed his son at the flat in Muirhouse.
The court heard that Miss Szcześniak had earlier dropped her son off at the flat and said he was excited about getting pizza.
She said Mr Czapla seemed "fine, normal".
"Julius was happy to go with his dad as was Lukasz to have him," she told police in a statement that was read to jurors by advocate depute Alan Cameron. Miss Szcześniak was 32 at the time of her statement.
The following morning she saw a text that had earlier been sent by Mr Czapla. She could not remember the exact wording but "that he meant he would kill himself and Julius".
The court heard that she had not responded to earlier messages Mr Czapla sent, asking about her sex life.
She went straight to the flat and, through a letterbox, saw her ex-partner covered in blood and staggering about.
'Covered in blood'
Miss Szczesniak said she started shouting and kicking the door.
She told police that when she got into the property Czapla indicated that Julius was in a bedroom where she found him on a bed.
"His head was covered in blood and his face was blue. I knew he was dead," she said.
Miss Szczesniak said she got out of the flat and shouted to a neighbour to call the police, saying: "He has killed Julius."
The hairdresser said she had met Czapla as he was a neighbour in the Muirhouse area of Edinburgh. They had a relationship for eight years and lived with their son.
But she said that during lockdown in March 2020 they were frequently arguing and separated that June. Julius went to stay with his father every second weekend.
She said Czapla was not happy to learn she was seeing another man and told her he had been prescribed with tablets for depression.
No safety concerns
She told detectives: "I have never had any concerns as to the safety of Julius when he is with his dad."
A post-mortem examination found that Julius had three steel ball bearings in underlying tissue of his head which had caused bleeding and a fractured skull. There were also wounds to the boy's left temple caused by the discharge of a BB gun.
He had also suffered a stab wound to the chest and pathologists found signs that were consistent with suffocation.
Agreed evidence revealed that during police searches at the flat, mushrooms containing Psilocin were found along with LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.
Mr Czapla was also said to have been stopped for drink and drug driving, speeding and crashing his car.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial, before Lord Beckett, continues.
- 22 hours ago
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-61180401?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
| 2022-04-21T16:52:12Z
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-61180401?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
| false
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A video released by police shows the moment a 27-year-old man is floored by a punch in a Cambridgeshire market square. The assault took place in St Neots just after 3am on Saturday, March 19.
The emergency services were called after the attack. The victim was taken to Bedford Hospital with two bleeds on his brain.
Although the victim has since been released from hospital, Cambridgeshire Constabulary continue to investigate. Detectives have released CCTV footage in the hope of receiving information from the public.
READ NEXT - Thug permanently scarred man with glass attack in nightclub
You can watch the CCTV footage at the top of this article. The punch occurs at the very start of the video, in the background, with the video progressing to show a clearer view of the suspect.
What happens in St Neots assault CCTV footage?
The CCTV footage starts by showing a man being picked up in a red taxi in the foreground - but in the market square in the background a group of people can be seen, apparently in a confrontation. One of the group, dressed in dark clothing, then appears to punch another person to the floor.
The attacker puts his hands up as a female in the group moves over, seemingly angry. The man then puts his hood up and tries to walk away.
The CCTV then moves forward in time. The hooded man can be seen in the foreground now, with the female and a man following him, upset.
In the background two people are stood over the victim, and appear to be checking on him. The victim has not moved since the punch took him down.
Eventually the hooded man, who also appears to be wearing jeans, walks out of shot. The woman and man follow, with two other males a short distance behind.
Anyone who witnessed the assault is asked to contact police online quoting reference number 35/19271/22. Anyone without internet access should call 101.
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|
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/st-neots-assault-cctv-shows-23741660
| 2022-04-21T16:53:10Z
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https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/st-neots-assault-cctv-shows-23741660
| false
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Michelle Obama's nephews booted from school after parents file racism complaint: lawsuit
The school accused the parents of 'bullying'
The sons of Michelle Obama’s brother have been removed from a prestigious private school after their parents accused the school of racism prompting a lawsuit from the parents.
In a 25-page lawsuit filed on Monday in a Wisconsin court, Craig and Kelly Robinson say that the University School of Milwaukee booted their two sons, ages 11 and 9, as payback for the parents lodging complaints of racism against the school.
SPOTIFY DECLINES TO RENEW OBAMAS PODCAST CONTRACT: REPORT
"They retaliated, kicking two young children out of school," Craig Robinson told WISN 12 News.
The Robinsons say they filed two reports with the school in January and March of 2021 voicing concerns that they witnessed racial stereotypes in virtual classroom assignments.
"This all started, as a lot of parents, when we heard what was going on in the classroom because of COVID," Craig Robinson told Good Morning America host Robin Roberts. "There was repeated use of racial and ethnic stereotypes that were in actual assignments. The use of the word ‘plantation’ and things of that nature."
Robinson added, "In addition to the racial and ethnic stereotypes there was an insensitivity to socioeconomic status, as well as a disregard for the children who weren’t physically in the classroom."
OBAMA MOCKED FOR INITIATIVE TO STOP ‘SPREAD OF DISINFORMATION’: ‘NO WAY THIS WILL EVER BE ABUSED’
The Robinsons say they filed a report through "Bias Incident Reporting System" in January of 2021 and then again in March of 2021. They say that no action was taken by the school before they learned that their fifth-grade son was denied re-enrollment in April of 2021. Their third grade student was also denied re-enrollment in June of 2021.
The lawsuit states that both children were "model students" who "met and exceeded academic and social expectations" set by the school.
"I thought their bias incident reporting system was a way for them to help in changing the culture and understanding that there are biases because there are people who are reporting them," Craig Robinson said to TMJ4. "It was actually turned against us in the end, and now I've learned that there is no longer a bias incident reporting system at [USM]."
The lawsuit states that the termination of the students was both a breach of the enrollment contract and a move that caused the family "monetary harm" and "harm arising from the loss in continuity in education" for the children as well as "reputational harm."
Craig and Kelly Robinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
The school paints a different picture claiming, according to a letter cited in the lawsuit, that the Robinson parents "repeatedly engaged in disrespectful and demanding communications with and about our teachers and administrators."
In the termination letter, the school wrote that it "has only become more evident that there has been a complete breakdown in your family's trust of and respect for USM."
In a statement, the school suggested that Craig and Kelly Robinson had engaged in "bullying" that was detrimental to the school’s operations.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
"We cannot and will not tolerate persistently disrespectful, bullying, or harassing behavior directed at our devoted and hardworking teachers and administrators," the school said. "Such conduct that makes faculty feel unsafe not only violates our Common Trust pledge and Parent-School Partnership, but also interferes with USM's operations and precludes a positive and constructive working relationship between the school and the families we proudly serve. When such parental conduct threatens the educational environment we have created, we have no choice but to take action."
USM did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
|
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michelle-obamas-brother-sues-prestigious-private-school-for-dismissing-sons-after-accusations-of-racism
| 2022-04-21T16:53:30Z
|
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michelle-obamas-brother-sues-prestigious-private-school-for-dismissing-sons-after-accusations-of-racism
| true
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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire House gave preliminary approval Thursday to replacing the state's troubled youth detention center with a six-bed facility and further limit which crimes could land children there.
The state currently spends $13 million a year to operate the 144-bed Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, although the typical population is currently about a dozen teens. Debate over its future began years ago, but has come to a boil amid horrific sexual abuse allegations.
The state budget passed last June mandated closing the center by March 2023. But the House on Thursday amended a Senate-passed bill that would extend the deadline, giving the state until June 30, 2024 to build a new facility, with the possibility of extending it for an additional two years if necessary.
The Senate version had called for a facility with up to 18 beds. The House cut that to six and added provisions restricting the crimes that would make children eligible for detention to violent crimes such as murder, assault, sexual assault, burglaries involving bodily harm and felony arson.
State Rep. Robert Lynn, R-Windham, unsuccessfully argued against those limits, saying that the threat of incarceration is sometimes needed to get teens to comply with lesser penalties and that incarceration is appropriate when someone repeatedly destroys property.
“This amendment sends the message that in New Hampshire, property rights don’t mean very much,” said Lynn, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee.
The youth center, named for former Gov. John H. Sununu, has been the target of a criminal investigation since 2019, and 11 former workers were arrested last April. Lawmakers also are considering a $100 million fund to settle claims brought by nearly 450 former residents who have sued the state with allegations involving more than 150 staffers from 1963 to 2018.
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https://www.mrt.com/news/article/NH-House-give-initial-OK-to-youth-center-closure-17116799.php
| 2022-04-21T16:58:49Z
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https://www.mrt.com/news/article/NH-House-give-initial-OK-to-youth-center-closure-17116799.php
| false
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Texas woman drops lawsuit claiming Jerry Jones is her father
DALLAS (AP) — A 25-year-old Texas woman who sued Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, alleging he is her biological father, has dropped her lawsuit.
Alexandra Davis said in court papers filed Wednesday that she now wants genetic testing to verify her claim, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“Alexandra has just decided that she wants to go ahead and proceed with parentage and DNA testing,” said Jay Gray, one of Davis’ lawyers. “She wants to remove any doubts that Jerry’s her father.”
Jones’ attorneys had asked in court filings that the suit be dismissed but did not address the paternity claim. A representative for Jones declined to comment.
The lawsuit alleged that Jones had a relationship with Davis’ mother, Cynthia Davis, who was working as a ticket counter agent for American Airlines in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the time. Alexandra Davis was born in 1996.
Davis and her mother reached a settlement in which Jones would support them financially as long as they didn’t publicly identify him as her father, according to court documents. At the time of the agreement in 1998, Jones denied he was the father.
Jones and his wife, Gene, married in 1963. They have three children, and all have a front-office role with the Cowboys. Jerry Jones is the team president and general manager.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wymt.com/2022/04/21/texas-woman-drops-lawsuit-claiming-jerry-jones-is-her-father/
| 2022-04-21T17:10:34Z
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https://www.wymt.com/2022/04/21/texas-woman-drops-lawsuit-claiming-jerry-jones-is-her-father/
| false
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/04/21/ap-top-entertainment-news-at-816-a-m-edt-2/
| 2022-04-21T17:18:09Z
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https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/04/21/ap-top-entertainment-news-at-816-a-m-edt-2/
| false
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Coventry City head to The Hawthorns this weekend looking for a play-off lifeline.
The Sky Blues put themselves firmly back in contention for the race for a top six finish with back-to-back victories over Fulham and Birmingham City, only for a 3-0 Easter Monday defeat by Bournemouth to set back their ambitions.
Mark Robins’s men are now four points off sixth placed Sheffield United with three Championship games to go, and head to take on Steve Bruce’s West Bromwich Albion on Saturday knowing that a win could put them right back in the mix.
As for the manager’s preferred team to face the Baggies, Robins has a few more options at his disposal than he did going into the Easter schedule after the return of a number of players from injury and illness.
READ MORE: Coventry City chief executive addresses Callum O’Hare ‘price tag’ and Norwich City bid claim
READ MORE: Coventry City linked with exciting Newcastle United prospect who 'gets you off your seat'
That said, the manager isn’t expected to make too many changes for the Midlands derby. One player who could come back into the starting line-up given the manner of the goals conceded against the Cherries is centre-half Kyle McFadzean.
The dominant defender replaced Jake Bidwell just after the hour at the CBS Arena on Monday afternoon when City were already trailing 3-0, and is in line to face West Brom from the start, with the likelihood being that Dom Hyam and Michael Rose will operate either side of him.
Todd Kane is expected to continue at right wing-back in the absence of the injured Fankaty Dabo, while Bidwell will come into contention with Ian Maatsen on the left, although Maatsen will be favourite to continue in that berth.
Gus Hamer and Ben Sheaf should continue in the middle of the park, although skipper Liam Kelly is an option after making his return to the squad at the weekend. Callum O’Hare and Jamie Allen, meanwhile, are expected to continue to operate at the top of a midfield box behind lone striker Viktor Gyokeres.
Robins could opt to play two strikers, in which case Martyn Waghorn would be favourite to come in, but he’s generally gone with an extra midfielder away from home and in the absence of the injured Matty Godden.
Fabio Tavares, of course, is the other striking option but the manager has been reluctant to start the development squad striker so far, preferring to use him as an impact player.
Predicted City team : Simon Moore; Dom Hyam, Kyle McFadzean, Michael Rose; Todd Kane, Gus Hamer, Ben Sheaf, Ian Maatsen; Callum O’Hare, Jamie Allen; Viktor Gyokeres.
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https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/coventry-city-wba-predicted-team-23749810
| 2022-04-21T17:18:23Z
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https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/coventry-city-wba-predicted-team-23749810
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Thirteen sexual assault victims of Larry Nassar are seeking $10 million each from the FBI, claiming a bungled investigation by agents led to more abuse by the sports doctor, lawyers said Thursday.Related video above from 2021: Simone Biles blasts FBI for failing to stop Larry Nassar's sexual abuse of athletesIt's an effort to make the government responsible for assaults that occurred after 2015. The Justice Department's inspector general concluded last year that the FBI made fundamental errors when it became aware of allegations against Nassar that year.Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor as well as a doctor at USA Gymnastics. He is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts."We spend so much energy and resources encouraging children to come forward when they have been abused," attorney Jamie White said. "So the fact that people came forward to the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world and were rebuffed — it's a slap in the face."White is not suing the FBI yet. Under federal law, tort claims must be filed with a government agency, which then has six months to reply. A lawsuit could follow depending on the FBI's response."No one should have been assaulted after the summer of 2015 because the FBI should have done its job," said Grace French, founder of a group called The Army of Survivors. "To know that the FBI could have helped to avoid this trauma disgusts me."The inspector general's investigation was spurred by allegations that the FBI failed to promptly address complaints made in 2015 against Nassar. It took months before agents opened a formal investigation.Nassar was arrested by state authorities in November 2016.FBI Director Christopher Wray has said he's "deeply and profoundly sorry" for delays in Nassar's prosecution and the pain it caused.The Michigan attorney general's office ultimately handled the assault charges, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed a child pornography case against Nassar.
Thirteen sexual assault victims of Larry Nassar are seeking $10 million each from the FBI, claiming a bungled investigation by agents led to more abuse by the sports doctor, lawyers said Thursday.
Related video above from 2021: Simone Biles blasts FBI for failing to stop Larry Nassar's sexual abuse of athletes
It's an effort to make the government responsible for assaults that occurred after 2015. The Justice Department's inspector general concluded last year that the FBI made fundamental errors when it became aware of allegations against Nassar that year.
Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor as well as a doctor at USA Gymnastics. He is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts.
"We spend so much energy and resources encouraging children to come forward when they have been abused," attorney Jamie White said. "So the fact that people came forward to the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world and were rebuffed — it's a slap in the face."
White is not suing the FBI yet. Under federal law, tort claims must be filed with a government agency, which then has six months to reply. A lawsuit could follow depending on the FBI's response.
"No one should have been assaulted after the summer of 2015 because the FBI should have done its job," said Grace French, founder of a group called The Army of Survivors. "To know that the FBI could have helped to avoid this trauma disgusts me."
The inspector general's investigation was spurred by allegations that the FBI failed to promptly address complaints made in 2015 against Nassar. It took months before agents opened a formal investigation.
Nassar was arrested by state authorities in November 2016.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Larry Nassar stands as he is sentenced by Judge Janice Cunningham for three counts of criminal sexual assault in Eaton County Circuit Court on Feb. 5, 2018 in Charlotte, Michigan.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has said he's "deeply and profoundly sorry" for delays in Nassar's prosecution and the pain it caused.
The Michigan attorney general's office ultimately handled the assault charges, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed a child pornography case against Nassar.
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https://www.4029tv.com/article/larry-nassar-victims-seeking-130-million-dollars-from-fbi/39785899
| 2022-04-21T17:21:16Z
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John A. Tauzell
John Anthony Tauzell, 62, of Rochester, MN, died Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at home as a result of brain cancer.
John was born October 26, 1959 in St. Paul, MN to John Tauzell and Peggy (Post) Tauzell. He graduated from Park High School in 1978. Furthering his education in HVAC, John graduated from Hennepin Technical Center and 916 Area Vocational Technical Institute. On June 4th, 1983, he married Barbara Medvec of Montgomery, MN. John and Barbara lived in Rochester for 32 years and raised their 6 kids. John retired earlier this year from Rochester Public Utilities after 31 years of dedicated service.
John loved being involved with boy scouts, watching hockey, and anything to do with nature where he found his peace.
John was preceded in death by his father, John Thomas Tauzell. He is survived by his mother Peggy Tauzell of Cottage Grove, MN; sisters: Cynthia Tauzell of Chino CA, Michelle (Pederson) Greg of Cottage Grove, MN, and Annette (Linn) Perry of Chapin, SC; wife, Barbara; children: Sarah, Anna, Justin, Andrew, Christopher and Jonathan; grand-children: Isabella, Peter, Kelvin, and Charlotte.
The family wishes to express a special thank you to the love and support from our many family and friends, Seasons hospice, RPU family, Mayo clinic, Between the Bridges Healing Center, and Winkels Chiropractic and Functional Medicine Center.
The Funeral Mass for John will be Monday, April 25, 2022 at 10:30 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, 451 5th St SW, Pine Island, MN 55963, with Rev. Randal Kasel officiating. Visitation will be Sunday, April 24, 4-7PM, concluding with a prayer service, in River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home in Rochester. Interment will be at St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Pine Island.
Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com.
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https://www.postbulletin.com/obituaries/obits/john-a-tauzell-5ecfe7691e6ee72e56b8942b-6260884144b2e97c91d08eb0
| 2022-04-21T17:21:56Z
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By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he is sending another $800 million in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine in the coming days, calling it the “frontlines of freedom” as it defends itself against a Russian invasion.
This $800 million arms package raises to $3.4 billion the amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine since the Russians began their invasion Feb. 24.
Biden says he will ask Congress next week to approve billions more dollars in aid for Ukraine because the assistance package passed last month is now “almost exhausted.” He said officials were still sorting out the appropriate amount to request.
Biden said the U.S. has “the capacity to do this for a long time” as it ships arms to Ukraine, but must work harder to maintain international pressure on Russia in retaliation for its invasion.
Biden said despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims, “There is no evidence yet that Mariupol is completely fallen.” Ukrainian forces and civilians are encircled in a massive steel plant in the city and Biden called on Russia to provide humanitarian corridors so that civilians may flee safely.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Putin tries to claim Mariupol win but won’t storm holdout
— China’s Xi urges dispute resolution, opposes sanctions
— EXPLAINER: What’s the impact if Europe cuts off Russian oil?
— Biden set to announce new military assistance for Ukraine
— AP-NORC poll: Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia
Follow all AP stories on Russia’s war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is making it easier for refugees fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine to come to the United States from Europe while trying to shut down an informal route through northern Mexico that has emerged in recent weeks.
A program announced Thursday will streamline refugee applications for Ukrainians and others fleeing the fighting. But it will no longer routinely grant entry to those who show up at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum, as thousands have done since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began almost two months ago.
The U.S. says it expects to admit up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine and about 15,000 have come since the Feb. 24 invasion, mostly through Mexico. Officials said that, starting Monday, that route will no longer be an option except in extreme circumstances.
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WASHINGTON — A Treasury official says the United States will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help it sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an announcement on Thursday, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, along with Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
The new funding comes on top of $500 million in economic aid that President Joe Biden unveiled in March.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings dominated by conversations over how to manage the spillover from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
— By Fatima Hussein and Chris Megerian
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KYIV, Ukraine — Denmark’s prime minister has announced during a visit to Kyiv that her country will more than double the amount it has given to Ukraine to buy weapons.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Thursday that Denmark will donate 600 million kroner ($874,000). Standing alongside Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she called it a “new, significant contribution.”
Frederiksen said the total Danish military contribution is now 1 billion kroner. Denmark also will assist Ukraine in the clearing mines in areas that are under Ukrainian control.
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BERLIN — The U.N. migration agency says the number of people displaced within Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began has risen to 7.7 million.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration said Thursday that more than 600,000 additional people were displaced within the country in the first 17 days of April.
The figures from the IOM came a day after the U.N. refugee agency said the number of people who have fled Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24 has risen to more than 5 million.
The IOM said that more than half of the internally displaced people, mostly in the east of the country, reported a lack of some food products. It said their most pressing problems include cash and access to financial support, followed by medicines.
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million.
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WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s Foreign Ministry says that Poland has frozen the bank account of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw over suspicions it was being used for purposes that were “not good.”
Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina said Thursday that the account was frozen by prosecutors. He said that Poland’s embassy and consulates in Russia have been exposed to various retaliatory steps — with roads around the embassy in Moscow dug up for the past two weeks, complicating entry to and exit from the compound.
He said that almost prevented the departure of Polish diplomats expelled by Russia in the international spat over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Jasina didn’t give further details of the action by prosecutors. According to the Business Insider portal, prosecutors ordered the freezing of the embassy account and that of Russia’s trade mission in Poland for six months shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, saying the money in the accounts may be used to finance terrorism.
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LONDON — Britain’s government has announced new sanctions against leaders in Russia’s army responsible for “committing atrocities on the frontline.”
The Foreign Office said Thursday that it’s targeting several Russian generals and military commanders including Lt. Col. Azatbek Omurbekov. Authorities say the so-called “Butcher of Bucha” commanded forces that occupied the town outside Kyiv where multiple reports of war crimes and civilian killings have surfaced.
Omurbekov and several others were subject to a travel ban and asset freeze. British authorities also said Thursday that they are expanding their sanctions list to individuals and companies that are supporting President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. They include Oleg Belozyorov, CEO of logistics company Russian Railways, and Russian weapons suppliers and manufacturers such as Kalashnikov Concern.
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MILAN — Italian energy company ENI has signed a deal with the Republic of Congo to increase natural gas production and supply to Italy, as part of European moves to cut dependence on Russian energy over its invasion of Ukraine.
The deal signed Thursday comes on top of recent deals to increase production and delivery from Algeria and Angola. Italy currently gets some 38% of its natural gas from Russia, and has signed deals to replace about half.
The new deal signed in Brazzaville calls for a new liquefied natural gas project that is expected to launch next year with a capacity of up to 4.5 billion cubic meters a year for export. ENI said it also agreed to back sustainable energy projects in the central African country.
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KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to the Ukrainian president says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol means that the Russian military is unable to perform the task.
Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Thursday that “they cannot physically capture Azovstal,” a giant steel plant that is Ukraine’s last stronghold in the strategic Sea of Azov port.
Arestovich’s statement followed Putin’s attempt to claim control of Mariupol even though Ukrainian defenders have continued to fight at Azovstal. Putin ordered his defense minister not to send troops to storm the plant and to block it instead.
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HELSINKI — Latvia’s Parliament has approved a statement accusing Russia of carrying out genocide against the Ukrainian people.
The statement approved unanimously Thursday by the Baltic country’s 100-seat Saeima legislature pointed to extensive testimony and evidence of crimes committed by the Russian military in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and elsewhere.
It said that, as a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union and NATO, Latvia cannot accept Russia’s actions. Neighboring Estonia’s Parliament agreed later Thursday on a similar statement.
The Latvian statement also called on EU member countries to stop importing Russian oil and gas immediately.
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MOSCOW — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine “continues according to plan” although President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol.
Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there was and still is an opportunity for Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms and come out via established corridors.”
He said that “the operation continues according to plan” and that Mariupol “has been liberated.” Asked whether the order not to storm the steel plant represented a change of plans, he said that “this is a separate facility where the remaining group of Ukrainian nationalists is completely blocked.”
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BERLIN — Germany’s foreign minister says her country and others are keeping up pressure on Russia to allow people out of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and stop striking potential evacuation routes.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during a news conference with her Estonian counterpart in Tallinn Thursday that trying to ensure humanitarian corridors has been an issue for weeks. She noted that in some cases such corridors have been shot at, and “you see that assurances can’t be relied on.”
Baerbock said that Germany and partners, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross, are working to “make clear that people must be able to leave the city; the Russian bombardment of routes and ways must be stopped so that innocent people can be brought to safety.”
But she added that “the situation is how it is. It is in (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s hands to stop these bombardments there.”
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BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s interior minister says the Balkan country should reconsider its proclaimed goal of joining the European Union because of alleged Western pressure to join international sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Aleksandar Vulin was responding Thursday to a question about a draft European Parliament resolution calling on Serbia to introduce sanctions against Russia if it really wants to join the EU.
He told the state RTS broadcaster that the draft ’’clearly indicates that the European Union does not want Serbia in its composition“ and that it’s ’’high time that Serbia also reconsiders its decision to remain on the path to EU membership.’’
Although Serbia has voted in favor of three United Nations resolutions condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine, it has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow.
Vulin said that “we are an old, ancient, historical nation that chooses its friends. Russia is our friend.”
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s Parliament has decided that Danish students studying in Russia or Belarus will no longer be entitled to state grants from Denmark.
Under Danish law, the country’s citizens are entitled to receive financial support throughout their studies wherever they study, a system meant to ensure that people from all social backgrounds can study without having to focus on earning money. This year, they get 6,397 kroner ($931) per month before tax.
Lawmakers voted Thursday to exclude studies in Russia and Belarus from the grant program until Jan. 1, 2024.
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KYIV, Ukraine — A senior Ukrainian official is demanding that the Russian military open a humanitarian corridor from the Azovstal steel plant, the last Ukrainian stronghold in the strategic port city of Mariupol.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Thursday on the messaging app Telegram that “there are about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers there. They all need to be pulled out of Azovstal today!”
Vereshchuk called on “world leaders and the international community to focus their efforts now on Azovstal.” She said it was a “key point and a key moment for humanitarian efforts.”
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BERLIN — Official figures from Germany show that the country’s exports to Russia plunged in March as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
The Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday that exports to Russia were down 57.5% compared with a year earlier, at 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), as a result of sanctions and other decisions by companies.
That left Russia as the No. 12 destination outside the European Union for German exports, compared with No. 5 in February.
Germany has Europe’s biggest economy.
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BEIJING — A Russian news outlet is reporting that China’s credit card processor has refused to work with banks in Russia for fear of being targeted by sanctions over its war on Ukraine, cutting off a possible alternative after Visa and Mastercard stopped serving them.
RBC reported Wednesday that UnionPay’s decision affects Sberbank, Russia’s biggest commercial bank, and smaller institutions. It cited five unidentified sources in large Russian banks.
Mastercard and Visa suspended operations in Russia after the United States and other governments imposed trade and financial sanctions on President Vladimir Putin’s government for its attack on Ukraine.
Sberbank and another institution, Tinkoff Bank, announced they were looking at switching to UnionPay, which is operated by Chinese state-owned banks. UnionPay is one of the biggest global payments processors but does almost all its business in China.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol but to block it “so that not even a fly comes through.”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin on Thursday that the sprawling Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian forces were holed up was “securely blocked” while the rest of the city was “liberated,” which Putin hailed as “success.”
Leaving the plant in Ukrainian hands, however, robs the Russians of the ability to declare complete victory in Mariupol. The city’s capture has both strategic and symbolic importance.
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LONDON — Britain’s defense ministry says Russian forces in Ukraine are advancing from staging areas in the Donbas region toward the city of Kramatorsk, which is the target of “persistent” rocket attacks.
In an intelligence update posted Thursday morning, the ministry says Russian forces may increase the intensity and forcefulness of operations in Ukraine as the Kremlin seeks to demonstrate “significant successes” before the annual Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which commemorate the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.
The ministry also reports “high levels” of activity by Russian air forces as they provide close air support to the offensive in eastern Ukraine and try to suppress Ukraine’s air defenses.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Kyiv regional police said Thursday two mass graves with nine bodies were discovered the day before in the city of Borodyanka northwest of the Ukrainian capital.
Head of the Kyiv regional police Andriy Nebytov said two women and a teenager were among the “civilians killed by the Russian occupants.”
“I want to stress that these people are civilians. The Russian military deliberately shot civilians that didn’t put up any resistance and didn’t pose any threat,” Nebytov said, adding that some of the victims were apparently tortured.
All of the bodies were transported to the morgues of the Kyiv region for further forensic study.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/04/21/live-updates-biden-proposes-more-weapons-aid-to-ukraine/
| 2022-04-21T17:22:51Z
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Ellen Pompeo wants Katherine Heigl to know that her previous comments about "Grey's Anatomy" were not made in vein.
On her "Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo" podcast, Pompeo -- who has starred as Meredith Grey in the ABC drama for 18 seasons -- reflected on her earlier days in those infamous scrubs, which in 2009, included working alongside her co-star, Heigl. That year, Heigl came under fire for noting her "seventeen-hour" long workdays on set, and now, Pompeo is praising her as a "hero" for her callout.
"I'm very lucky now with my schedule on Grey's," she said during the April 20 episode. "I get to cut back and overall, I'm happy for the production as a whole, because we have cut back tremendously. Back in the day, we used to do crazy, crazy hours." Pompeo continued, "I remember Heigl said something on a talk show about the insane hours we were working, but she was 100 percent right -- and had she said that today she'd be a complete hero, but she was ahead of her time."
As the "Grey's Anatomy" star put it, Heigl was the one on the receiving end of controversy once she discussed their working conditions.
"Of course, let's slam a woman and call her ungrateful when the truth is she's 100 percent honest, and it's absolutely correct what she said," Pompeo shared. "And she was f------ ballsy for saying it. And she was telling the truth. She wasn't lying. Also, when you're younger, you're so excited to be there and you're so happy to be invited to the party that you're willing to do whatever it is they're asking you to do."
In 2009, Heigl candidly spoke about her workdays during an appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman." "Our first day back was Wednesday and I'm going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them, it was a seventeen-hour workday," Heigl said at the time, adding that it was "cruel and mean."
Amid the controversy that continued after Heigl spoke out (which was already brewing when she withdrew her name from Emmy consideration the year before), Heigl exited the series in 2010. More than a decade later, she addressed her honest statement heard around the world last September.
"Some of you may remember over ten years ago I was very vocal about the absurdity of the working hours crews and actors were being forced into by production," Heigl captioned an Instagram post. "Even Diane Sawyer interviewed me and not so kindly informed me 'no one feels sorry for you.' I very publicly and for many, many years after, got my ass kicked for speaking up." Explaining that the backlash made her "struggle with self-confidence and self-worth" and that she let herself "be convinced that [she] was wrong," she also noted that she's no longer afraid moving forward.
"So, I speak up today and say with zero hesitation or regret...14, 16, 17, 18-hour work days are NOT safe," she added. "They are NOT healthy. They cannot and should NO longer be tolerated." E! News has reached out to ABC for comment.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/ellen-pompeo-praises-katherine-heigl-for-speaking-out-about-greys-anatomy-working-conditions/3656710/
| 2022-04-21T17:25:36Z
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/ellen-pompeo-praises-katherine-heigl-for-speaking-out-about-greys-anatomy-working-conditions/3656710/
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Battaash’s brother off the mark on Tipperary debut
Aidan O’Brien’s The Antarctic, a full-brother retired sprint sensation Battaash, made a winning debut in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Race at Tipperary.
Bought by MV Magnier for 750,000 guineas at Tattersalls Book One sale in October, he is now owed by a partnership which comprises of the Coolmore triumvirate of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith along with Westerberg and Peter Brant.
The Dark Angel colt, out of the mare Anna Law, was not away as sharply as his older brother used to be, but he was soon on an even keen.
Kept company for most of the final furlong by Wodao, trained by Donnacha O’Brien, The Antarctic (6-4 favourite) prevailed by half a length under Ryan Moore.
Betfair cut the winner to 8-1 from 14s for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“He is a very fast horse, so we were a little worried about the soft ground first time out. We were delighted with him and Donnacha liked the second horse and we knew that too,” said O’Brien.
“We knew it was going to be tough and wasn’t going to be straightforward, but you’d be very happy with him.
“He is very fast and will definitely have another run before Royal Ascot. He always looked a horse who would be more comfortable at five (furlongs) than six – he is very quick and his brother was like that too.”
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https://www.newschainonline.com/sport/mens-sport/racing/battaashs-brother-off-the-mark-on-tipperary-debut-266390
| 2022-04-21T17:28:15Z
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DUBLIN, April 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Battery Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Type; By End-Use; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2022 - 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global battery market size is expected to reach USD 169.09 billion by 2029 according to this new study. The report gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.
Batteries are an efficient source of energy and one of the most convenient ways to store power. The robust use of batteries in several end-use industries, including automotive, household, medical, military, industrial, is expected to drive the growth of the industry over the forecast period.
On the basis of type, the lead-acid segment is expected to account for the largest share over the forecast period. These are widely used as vehicle ignition and lights, solar-panel energy storage, backup power, and load leveling in power generation. The lead-acid batteries are highly used as they are recyclable, economical, easier to use, much safer as compared to the other alternatives.
Lithium-Ion segment is expected to hold a significant share over the forecast period owing to its high use in several applications, including electric vehicles, laptops, mobiles, and other appliances. The rising demand for global Energy Storage Systems (ESS) is projected to augment the industry demand over the forecast period. ESS utilizes batteries considering high power delivery, recyclability, and economic nature. Lead-acid batteries are the commonly used battery types for energy storage systems owing to numerous applications.
Asia Pacific region is expected to account for the highest growth over the forecast period owing to the expansion of the manufacturing base in countries such as China, India, and Japan. The global trend is influencing the consumers in the Asia Pacific region to purchase electric vehicles. The increased sale of electric vehicles in the region is anticipated to increase the demand for batteries in the region, accelerating the industry's growth.
Furthermore, the presence of major industry players, including Toyota Industries, Hyundai Motor Company, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), Komatsu Limited, and Nissan Motor Company across the region, is expected to drive the industry growth.
The major participants of the industry include Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, Duracell, Johnson Controls, A123 Systems LLC, BYD Company Ltd, LG Chem Ltd, Eveready Industries, GS Yuasa International Ltd, Hitachi Chemical Co, Ltd, Sony Corporation, NEC Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Saft, Samsung SDI Co, Ltd, and Toshiba Corporation. These companies are adopting several new business models to further enhance their presence in the global industry.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Introduction
2. Executive Summary
3. Research Methodology
4. Battery Market Insights
4.1. Battery Market - Industry Snapshot
4.2. Battery Market Dynamics
4.2.1. Drivers and Opportunities
4.2.1.1. Growing demand for electric vehicles
4.2.1.2. Rising integration of electronics
4.2.2. Restraints and Challenges
4.2.2.1. Safety concerns regarding the battery usage
4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis
4.3.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Moderate)
4.3.2. Threats of New Entrants: (Low)
4.3.3. Bargaining Power of Buyers (Moderate)
4.3.4. Threat of Substitute (Moderate)
4.3.5. Rivalry among existing firms (High)
4.4. PESTLE Analysis
4.5. Value Chain Analysis
4.6. Battery Industry trends
4.7. COVID-19 Impact Analysis
5. Global Battery Market, by Type
5.1. Key Findings
5.2. Introduction
5.2.1. Global Battery, by Type, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
5.3. Lead-Acid
5.3.1. Global Battery Market, by Lead-Acid, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
5.4. Lithium-Ion
5.4.1. Global Battery Market, by Lithium-Ion, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
5.5. Nickel Metal Hydride
5.5.1. Global Battery Market, by Nickel Metal Hydride, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
5.6. Nickel Cadmium
5.6.1. Global Battery Market, by Nickel Cadmium, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
5.7. Others
5.7.1. Global Other Battery Market, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
6. Global Battery Market, by End-Use
6.1. Key Findings
6.2. Introduction
6.2.1. Global Battery Market, by End-Use, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
6.3. Automotive
6.3.1. Global Battery Market, by Automotive, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
6.4. Industrial
6.4.1. Global Battery Market, by Industrial, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
6.5. Consumer Goods
6.5.1. Global Battery Market, by Consumer Goods, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
6.6. Others
6.6.1. Global Battery Market, by Others, by Region, 2017 - 2029 (USD Billion)
7. Global Battery Market, by Geography
8. Competitive Landscape
8.1. Expansion and Acquisition Analysis
8.1.1. Expansion
8.1.2. Acquisitions
8.2. Partnerships/Collaborations/Agreements/Exhibitions
9. Company Profiles
9.1. A123 Systems LLC
9.1.1. Company Overview
9.1.2. Financial Performance
9.1.3. Product Benchmarking
9.1.4. Recent Development
9.2. BYD Company Ltd.
9.2.1. Company Overview
9.2.2. Financial Performance
9.2.3. Product Benchmarking
9.2.4. Recent Development
9.3. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.
9.3.1. Company Overview
9.3.2. Financial Performance
9.3.3. Product Benchmarking
9.3.4. Recent Development
9.4. Duracell
9.4.1. Company Overview
9.4.2. Financial Performance
9.4.3. Product Benchmarking
9.4.4. Recent Development
9.5. Eveready Industries
9.5.1. Company Overview
9.5.2. Financial Performance
9.5.3. Product Benchmarking
9.5.4. Recent Development
9.6. GS Yuasa International Ltd.
9.6.1. Company Overview
9.6.2. Financial Performance
9.6.3. Product Benchmarking
9.6.4. Recent Development
9.7. Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.
9.7.1. Company Overview
9.7.2. Financial Performance
9.7.3. Product Benchmarking
9.7.4. Recent Development
9.8. Johnson Controls
9.8.1. Company Overview
9.8.2. Financial Performance
9.8.3. Product Benchmarking
9.8.4. Recent Development
9.9. LG Chem Ltd.
9.9.1. Company Overview
9.9.2. Financial Performance
9.9.3. Product Benchmarking
9.9.4. Recent Development
9.10. NEC Corporation
9.10.1. Company Overview
9.10.2. Financial Performance
9.10.3. Product Benchmarking
9.10.4. Recent Development
9.11. Panasonic Corporation
9.11.1. Company Overview
9.11.2. Financial Performance
9.11.3. Product Benchmarking
9.11.4. Recent Development
9.12. Saft
9.12.1. Company Overview
9.12.2. Financial Performance
9.12.3. Product Benchmarking
9.12.4. Recent Development
9.13. Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
9.13.1. Company Overview
9.13.2. Financial Performance
9.13.3. Product Benchmarking
9.13.4. Recent Development
9.14. Sony Corporation
9.14.1. Company Overview
9.14.2. Financial Performance
9.14.3. Product Benchmarking
9.14.4. Recent Development
9.15. Toshiba Corporation
9.15.1. Company Overview
9.15.2. Financial Performance
9.15.3. Product Benchmarking
9.15.4. Recent Development
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/u84oz
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]
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SOURCE Research and Markets
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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-worldwide-battery-industry-is-expected-to-reach-169-billion-by-2029-301529983.html
| 2022-04-21T17:29:20Z
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RICHMOND, Va. -- Thousands of your friends and neighbors are getting ready for the 2022 Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k and for each of them, their goals are different.
Some want to beat their best finish time, others just want to cross the finish line. But for at least two people who will be out on Monument Avenue race day, the whole goal is to save lives.
Two of the biggest names in cancer treatment in Richmond are leading fundraising teams for the Massey Challenge. VCU Massey Cancer Center is the official charitable partner of the 10k and the teams are competing to raise money for cancer research.
Cancer Center Director Dr. Robert Winn and Chief of Breast Surgery, Dr. Kandace McGuire are captains of two separate teams competing against each other in the Massey Challenge.
Dr. Winn says it’s more than a race.
“It's a run really for a future without cancer that's what we're running for," Dr. Winn said.
Dr. McGuire has spent her career treating breast cancer and heads up “Team Bust a Move” honoring breast cancer patients and survivors. Dr. Winn is the head of “Team Massey Nation.” The Massey Challenge provide extra motivation for its participants.
“It's so reinvigorating for us and what we know is that those dollars are going to go to us finding the end of cancer,” Dr. McGuire said.
And for breast cancer survivor and 10k participant Tara Daudani, knowing the money raised goes towards care like she received is so inspiring.
“As a cancer survivor it means so much to me that all the money raised in the Massey Challenge stays right here in Richmond," Daudani said. "The doctors and researchers at Massey work so hard to improve the quality and length of lives of people diagnosed with cancer like me. Seeing the visual representation on race day of all the community members who support this mission is a really incredible thing."
While Dr. McGuire is training and absolutely plans on crossing the finish line, Dr. Winn has a different role on race day.
“This year I think it's important for me to be at the finish line to tell everyone how much I appreciate them, from the first person to the last person I was to be there to be able to shake their hands," Dr. Winn said.
To donate to either of their teams or any team competing in the Massey Challenge, click here.
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https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/vcu-massey-challenge-doctors-monument-avenue-10k
| 2022-04-21T17:33:27Z
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Elon Musk says he has lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, and he’s trying to negotiate an agreement with the company. The Tesla CEO says in documents filed Thursday with U.S. securities regulators that he’s exploring what's known as a tender offer to buy all of the social media platform’s common stock for $54.20 per share in cash.
But Musk hasn’t decided yet whether to do that. The documents say Twitter has not responded to Musk’s proposal. Last week Twitter’s board adopted a “poison pill” defense that would make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive.
Musk was previously set to join Twitter's Board of Directors, but Musk informed Twitter that he would not take the board seat, the same day his appointment would have become effective.
He has recently spoken up about Twitter’s moderation efforts, criticizing the platform for “failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.”
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https://www.wptv.com/news/national/musk-says-he-has-46-5b-in-financing-ready-to-buy-twitter
| 2022-04-21T17:40:11Z
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'Break glass in case of emergency': Lynda Carter, 70, reveals she keeps her iconic Wonder Woman costume in frame as she shares new snap
Lynda Carter playfully revealed she keeps her Wonder Woman costume on stand-by in case 'of emergency'.
The 70-year-old actress, who played the titular role in the classic live action TV series based on the popular comic in the 1970s, revealed she never threw out her iconic outfit through a tweet that was shared earlier this week.
The performer also joked that she has always kept it close by in case she has work to do.
Keeping it close: Lynda Carter has stated that she keeps her Wonder Woman costume on stand-by in case 'of emergency'
Sharing a photo of herself holding the framed costume, she tweeted: '1. Some outfits are never sent to the back of the closet. 2. It's really more of a "break glass in case of emergency" situation.'
Fans were delighted by the post, with many hailing Carter's impact on them growing up.
Lynda previously played Wonder Woman and her alter ego, Diana Prince in the classic television series centered on the superheroine, which ran from 1975 until 1979.
Gal Gadot later took on the title role in the 2017 blockbuster and its 2020 sequel Wonder Woman: 1984, and the original star made a cameo in the latter.
Hanging on to it: Sharing a photo of herself holding the framed costume, she tweeted: '1. Some outfits are never sent to the back of the closet. 2. It's really more of a "break glass in case of emergency" situation'
In the past: Lynda previously played Wonder Woman and her alter ego, Diana Prince in the classic television series centered on the superheroine, which ran from 1975 until 1979
She made a post-credits cameo appearance as the warrior Asteria, and she will be part of Wonder Woman 3.
The 36-year-old performer previously spoke about how Carter during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she noted that the actress was more than happy to assist her in preparing to portray the superheroine.
'First of all, Lynda has mentored me from the very first moment that I got cast as Wonder Woman. She was always there, talking to me, giving me tips and everything,' she stated.
A helping hand: The 36-year-old performer previously spoke about how Carter during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she noted that the actress was more than happy to assist her in preparing to portray the superheroine; they are seen in 2017
Gadot then noted that she and her frequent collaborator were pleased to include the actress in the cast of the most recent Wonder Woman feature.
'She's a true champion of what Patty [Jenkins, director] and I have been doing, and it was so great that we managed to find the right opportunity to bring her to the last movie and now to the third one,' she said.
The Red Notice star did not offer any specifics about Carter's role in the upcoming project, but she did reiterate that she looked up to her predecessor.
Gadot made a point of stating: 'It's even better this time. I love her very much. I love her dearly.'
Following in her footsteps: The Red Notice star did not offer any specifics about Carter's role in the upcoming project, but she did reiterate that she looked up to her predecessor
The actress and Jenkins have been working on a follow-up to Wonder Woman: 1984 ever since 2019, and they have expressed that the film would take place in modern times.
The project was officially greenlit in December of 2020, and plot details and a potential release date are currently being withheld from the public.
A spinoff feature centered on the Amazons of Themyscira is also in the development stage.
Future project: The project was officially greenlit in December of 2020, and plot details and a potential release date are currently being withheld from the public
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10740069/Lynda-Carter-reveals-keeps-iconic-Wonder-Woman-glass.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2022-04-21T17:40:53Z
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10740069/Lynda-Carter-reveals-keeps-iconic-Wonder-Woman-glass.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
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The U.S. trade investigation into Chinese solar-panel suppliers could delay a huge slug of NextEra Energy solar and storage projects.
As much as 2.8 gigawatts of such projects planned for this year "may shift to 2023 due to circumvention investigation," the renewables giant said in its earnings presentation Thursday. That's equivalent to the electricity generated by almost three nuclear reactors.
Delays tied to the trade investigation threaten to slow President Joe Biden's push to green the country's power grids. The U.S. relies heavily on panels imported from Asia -- and about three-quarters of solar companies surveyed by the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group said deliveries have been affected since the U.S. Commerce Department announced its investigation last month.
"If the Commerce Department were to find circumvention, we believe it would be unwinding a decade of trade practice," Kirk Crews, NextEra's chief financial officer, said during the company's earnings call Thursday. "We are disappointed with the Commerce decision to conduct this investigation."
NextEra's shares slipped as much as 2.8% on Thursday, the most in intraday trading in more than a month.
The Commerce Department is investigating whether Chinese manufacturers are evading tariffs by sending components to other Asian nations for assembly before exporting the finished products. The U.S. depends on Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to meet much of its demand for new solar panels. About 75% of panels installed in the U.S. last year came from Southeast Asia, according to Raymond James.
NextEra's announcement is the "first concrete data point" from the first-quarter earnings season confirming that the investigation has upended the U.S. solar industry, according to a research note Thursday from Credit Suisse.
A final determination from the Commerce Department is expected to be months away, throwing the industry into a state of uncertainty. A key issue: whether the U.S. imposes duties retroactively, said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James.
"It's the uncertainty that's causing the problems," he said in an interview.
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https://www.unionleader.com/news/business/energy/seabrook-station-operator-nextera-says-tariff-probe-may-slow-solar-storage-projects/article_c7375e6f-27d0-59c7-8662-d30b734b0f4c.html
| 2022-04-21T17:42:29Z
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https://www.unionleader.com/news/business/energy/seabrook-station-operator-nextera-says-tariff-probe-may-slow-solar-storage-projects/article_c7375e6f-27d0-59c7-8662-d30b734b0f4c.html
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Back down to earth! Moment Canoe Man's wife Anne Darwin looked glumly out of the window as her jet from Panama touched down in UK... and she prepared to face the music for faking her husband's death
- Darwin and his wife Anne carried out the trick in order to claim life insurance, and made worldwide headlines
- The couple were jailed for six years in 2008, after evening hiding the secret from sons Mark and Anthony
- Their deception is now the subject of ITV series The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe, which airs again tonight
This is the moment 'Canoe Man' John Darwin's wife Anne looks glumly out of a plane window as she prepares to face the music for faking her husband's death.
The couple carried out the scam in order to claim his life insurance, made headlines around the world before they were both jailed for fraud.
The couple even hid the secret from their two sons, Mark and Anthony, before finally admitting their lies as police evidence began to stack up.
After a four-part drama series, The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe, ran earlier this week on ITV, tonight sees the airing of The Real Story, a documentary about the staggering deception.
Featured in the film is footage of Ms Darwin on the plane back to the UK from Panama, where the couple had started a new life together, but were ultimately busted.
In the clip, she is asked how she is feeling, to which she doesn't reply verbally, only shaking her head and looking out the aircraft window before having to accept her fate.
Ms Darwin was jailed for six years in 2008, along with her former husband, for fraud after he faked his death in a canoeing accident and disappeared so they could claim his life insurance
This is the moment 'Canoe Man' John Darwin's wife Anne looks glumly out of a plane window as she prepares to face the music for faking her husband's death
Ms Darwin recalled her memories of the flight back and more in her book, Out Of My Depth, which was featured in the Daily Mail in 2016
Footage from The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe: The Real Story also shows Ms Darwin leaving the police station after being arrested
Ms Darwin recalled her memories of the flight back and more in her book, Out Of My Depth, which was featured in the Daily Mail in 2016.
She wrote: 'As the plane taxied across the runway at Manchester airport, I found myself fighting back tears. The relentless drizzle seemed to reflect exactly my state of mind. Just how much trouble was I in?
'The plane came to a standstill at terminal two and the doors swung open. It quickly became apparent, however, that this was no ordinary airport arrival.'
She went on to explain how a police sergeant and five other officers, some of them armed with sub-machine guns, stepped on board upon landing and demanded to speak to her.
'Passengers, already out of their seats and reaching for their bags, were instructed over the Tannoy to sit back down,' she wrote.
'There was a buzz of confusion and then excitement as people started to realise they had shared their flight home with me, Anne Darwin, the now infamous 'canoe widow' whose face had been all over the newspapers and TV.
'All eyes were on me as, ashen-faced and totally panic-stricken, I made my way forward to the front of the cabin. I confirmed to the police officers that I was, indeed, who they thought I was, and they told me I was being arrested on suspicion of fraud.
'I was shocked at the speed at which everything was happening. I really hadn't expected my homecoming to be like this, or to be arrested in such a public way. It's fair to say I was petrified.'
It comes as neighbours of Ms Darwin told MailOnline today how she has taken up hiking to 'clear her head' amid the renewed discussion around her criminal past.
The 69-year-old regularly embarks on long solitary walks around the North Yorkshire Moors and Cleveland Hills, those living in the area revealed.
She lives a quiet life by herself in a small one-bedroom bungalow in a pretty village in North Yorkshire.
Avoiding the village shops, tearoom and pub, she instead seeks solace in the surrounding countryside.
Anne Darwin, the former wife of 'Canoe Man' John Darwin, has taken up hiking near her home in a village in North Yorkshire, to 'clear her head' as a new TV drama rakes up her criminal past
Her former husband, meanwhile, has been pictured shopping for his new Filipina wife, as thousands of viewers have tuned in to see their extraordinary story told once again.
The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe has aired every night since Sunday and a documentary, titled The Real Story, is broadcast tonight at 9pm.
Ms Darwin, who moved into the bungalow just over a year and a half ago, keeps a low profile and has not been seen since the show hit television screens.
Neighbour Sally Scott told MailOnline: 'She's not been around for the last couple of days, her car isn't in the usual spot and hasn't been since before Easter.
'I think she's gone away somewhere because she knew this new TV drama was starting at the weekend and it would bring up her past.'
The neighbour added: 'I speak to her fairly regularly and she's lovely. To me she comes across as a nice genuine lady who has fitted in to our little community very well.
'A lot of people are unaware that she is the former wife of 'Canoe Man' John Darwin, she's certainly never mentioned it to me, but a few of us know.
'She's moved into the bungalow where my father used to live, that's how I actually got speaking to her.
'She's become really interested in hiking. The first thing she asked me was where was good to walk, and if it was far to Captain Cook's Monument because she wanted to 'explore the local area'.
A knock on the door... and six years of lies crumbled in an instant: Canoe wife Anne Darwin reveals how she was forced to faced the loved ones she'd cruelly deceived after John made one last bid to save his skin
She shocked the world by helping her husband fake his death in a canoe in order to cash in his life insurance. Now, in an extraordinary new book, Anne Darwin is revealing all. Yesterday, she told how her escape to Panama turned to disaster. Today, she tells how she and her husband made a last-ditch attempt to save their skin — and the awful consequences for their children . . .
London, Saturday, December 1, 2007
Even among the hordes of Christmas shoppers, the balding, suntanned man in his 50s must have looked somewhat out of place as he wandered aimlessly around a Topshop store in Oxford Street in London's West End.
He seemed confused and, when an assistant asked if he was all right, she was taken aback to be told he had lost his wife, his children and his Rottweiler dogs. She called a security guard, who walked him around the corner to the West End Central Police Station. It was about 7.30pm.
'Yes sir, how can I help you,' asked the officer on duty.
The man peering through the glass screen shifted uncomfortably from side to side. 'I think I might be a missing person,' he responded, a little shakily. 'My name's John Darwin. I'm from Seaton Carew.'
I'm sure the officer must have raised his eyebrows, thinking, I've got a right one here, as John put his ludicrous amnesia plan into action.
When he'd first told me his plan a few weeks earlier in Panama, he was convinced he could carry it off.
There was no alternative, he thought, because new rules introduced by the Panamanian government meant he couldn't stay there permanently as a foreign national unless he could produce a letter from his local police force back home in Cleveland stating that was of good character.
And as he had a false identity, John Jones, having faked his own death at sea paddling a canoe five years earlier in order to use the life insurance money to pay off our debts, that simply was not going to be possible.
Somehow I didn't think for a moment he would get away with it, but when he asked me to come up with something better, I couldn't. We talked about what he'd say to the police, although in truth he had little regard for what they thought.
As John saw it, they hadn't exactly covered themselves in glory when he disappeared, and then returned to live in his own home right under their noses just three weeks later. He'd fooled them once, he said, and he was convinced he could do it again.
As for our two grown-up sons, Mark and Anthony, he thought they would be so thankful he had returned from the dead that they'd barely question him, and would welcome him back with open arms.
And although he'd have some explaining to do with the insurance and pension companies who'd paid out, he believed they, too, would accept his story and let us off.
As he also pointed out, all our assets were in any case safely protected in Panama, well away from the clutches of the British authorities.
In his mind, it was all so simple. We'd settle down for a nice life in Panama, the eco-retreat would make us wealthy beyond words and our sons could come and visit whenever they wanted. What could possibly go wrong?
So I bought John a single flight to Heathrow for Friday, November 30. It felt very surreal as I drove him to the airport, and when he left it was quite emotional.
I was going to stay in Panama on my own and he was going home with his story, which I didn't think anyone would believe. Here we go again, I thought.
John, who was wearing walking boots, baggy, dark blue trousers, a blue shirt still showing the folds from being packed for the flight, a grey, crew-neck jumper and a leather jacket, said he wasn't sure where he had come from or how he had arrived at the police station.
'I see, sir,' the officer said. 'John Darwin, you say? Yes, sir. Can you just wait there for a minute?'
It didn't take the policeman long to discover there was indeed a John Darwin who had disappeared off the Cleveland coast in 2002, but he wasn't missing — he was dead.
He rang Hartlepool police station to see if anyone there could throw any light on the curious case he now found himself dealing with on a cold December evening.
'He thinks it's still June and asked why all the Christmas decorations are up.' The officer had already established that 'Mr Darwin' had no form of identification on him, simply a wallet containing £140 and a key ring with several keys attached. He claimed not to know what any of the keys were for.
Our son, Mark, was partying at a friend's wedding in Balham, South London, when his mobile rang.
It had just gone 9pm and the reception was in full swing, making it difficult to hear over the beat of the music, but Mark could just about decipher that the woman was saying she was a police officer from Hartlepool, so he moved outside.
She shocked the world by helping her husband fake his death in order to cash in his life insurance. Now, Anne Darwin (pictured on a plane back to the UK) is revealing all
'We have someone who is saying he is your dad in the West End Central police station in London,' the duty inspector, Helen Eustace, told him. 'He appears to be suffering from amnesia.' Mark began shaking and was rooted to the spot. 'My whole world stopped,' he said later 'My heart was pumping. I couldn't believe it. I was overjoyed.'
He rushed back inside to tell his girlfriend, Flick, and they hastily left for the West End, not really daring to believe it could be true.
Anthony, meanwhile, was at home in Basingstoke, Hampshire with his wife, Louise, when the police got hold of him. Like his brother, Anthony could barely believe what he was hearing.
He tried to call Mark, but couldn't get through because his brother was on the Tube, so he rang the London police station directly and was talking to an officer when Mark and Flick walked in.
Over the phone, Mark told his younger brother to stay put until he had seen the man purporting to be their father, to confirm if it really was him.
Mark braced himself for the meeting, terrified it would be some cruel hoax or a man who had simply assumed his father's identity — but, of course, it wasn't.
Standing there in front of him, with a little less hair and looking older and thinner than the man he remembered, was the dad who had disappeared from his life more than five years earlier. 'It was as though everything was stopped in the room,' said Mark.
'I remember us looking at each other as he walked in and I said: 'I didn't believe it was you.' Mark was in tears as he hugged his dad, who asked where his mam and the dogs were. Mark said the dogs had long since died but Mam was fine — and living in Panama.
Mark called Anthony, who had by then been anxiously waiting at home for nearly half an hour, and told him the man was indeed their long-lost dad and said he'd better get to the police station as quickly as he could.
Anthony and Louise jumped in their car and headed towards the city, but Anthony was in such a state that he soon got lost. He ended up having to call the police and, after explaining his predicament, was obliged with an escort to the station.
Anthony was as stunned as his brother when he first set eyes on his father, telling me later: 'When I first saw him, he called my name and we hugged. I just sat and stared at him for about ten minutes and didn't say a word. I felt overwhelming joy that he was there.'
Mark rang me before Anthony got there. He couldn't wait to let me know that his dad had returned from the dead.
His fingers shook as he punched in the phone number to my Panama apartment. He rambled on before finally saying: 'Brace yourself — I am sitting here next to Dad.'
Of course, I had been waiting, dreading, this call since the moment John had left the previous day. I had played it out in my mind a thousand times, trying to work out what best to say to feign complete surprise.
Mark said 'Would you like to speak to him?' and, of course, I said that I would.
It was a very strange conversation to have. I said something along the lines of: 'Is that really you, John? Where have you been? Are you OK?' We had a fairly brief stilted conversation and then he handed the phone back to Mark, who said his dad was confused and couldn't remember anything.
It was an incredibly emotional moment for me. Mark and Anthony were reunited with their dad after nearly six years, and now everything, I thought to myself, would surely come to a head.
I sat for a while, unable to move, but then I started to pace the floor not really knowing what I was supposed to do now.
Think, Anne, think. I was about to call Mam and Dad but remembering the time difference, with the UK being five hours ahead of Panama, it would have been around midnight and they'd be asleep. I decided to wait until morning.
I couldn't settle to do anything. My thoughts were in that London police station, but I had no idea what was happening. Would John now be arrested?
Would the police see right through his story? How are the boys feeling? Do they believe him? What happens next? I couldn't sleep, I couldn't read; I tossed and turned all night.
Anne Darwin the wife of John Darwin, the canoeist who turned up after being presumed dead leaves Manchester Airport police station after being arrested on her return to Britain
As far as the police were concerned, John was free to go. He wasn't a wanted man, and although it was certainly a strange old case, there was nothing to stop him leaving with the boys. Officers said they would be in touch the next day and advised them to keep a very close eye on their father.
It was decided that John would stay with Anthony and Louise in Basingstoke, as they had more room at home than Mark, so all five of them headed off to Hampshire together in Anthony's car.
When they arrived, they sat chatting and looking at old family photographs until the early hours, hoping that something would jog John's memory.
Anthony took a photograph of his dad sitting on his sofa, looking slightly dishevelled, and emailed it to me. I sent back a picture, taken a few weeks earlier, of me riding a horse in Costa Rica.
The boys simply assumed the photograph must have been taken by a fellow holidaymaker. Little did they know the picture had been taken by the man they were sitting with.
Next morning, Anthony drove his dad to the nearby Asda supermarket, as the only clothes he appeared to have were the ones he was wearing. He bought John some jeans, several T-shirts, three pairs of underpants and some socks.
There was one brief moment of panic for Anthony when he suddenly turned round and couldn't see his dad, who had wandered off into another aisle.
Anthony was terrified he had disappeared again and ran from aisle to aisle looking for him before eventually finding him.
Later that day, Mark and Flick left to return to London, as Mark was starting a new job the following morning. It was left to Anthony and Louise to continue gently trying to coax information from John as he carried on his charade of not being able to remember anything after the year 2000.
He said he didn't know what baked beans were and couldn't recall whether he took sugar in his coffee, yet he remembered both our sons' dates of birth.
I spoke regularly on the phone to John, but we were obviously careful what we said to each other.
The boys seemed slightly puzzled when I explained that I couldn't return straight away because I was sorting out some problems with my visa, but they didn't press me. They were just thrilled to have their dad back.
The following evening, Simon Walton, a reporter on the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough, was making his last round of calls to his local police force before the end of his shift, checking for late- breaking stories.
He was going over some details with a duty inspector at Cleveland when she mentioned she had another story that may be of interest. They'd been contacted by colleagues in London, she said, and been told that a local man named John Darwin had mysteriously turned up in the West End suffering from memory loss, having been missing for many years.
For a few seconds the name rattled around the journalist's brain — then it hit him. Some years earlier, he had been a junior reporter in Hartlepool when he had covered the story of a canoeist who went missing off Seaton Carew. The man's body was never found and he was presumed drowned. His name: John Darwin.
The astonishing tale was the main story in the following day's paper, and before long it was being followed up by every news organisation in the land.
The media interest was something John and I simply hadn't bargained for. How naïve we had been.
The amazing canoe story quickly gathered steam, with journalists and the public alike desperate for information. The questions which they most wanted answered were: where had he been and where was his wife? The race to find me was on.
It was a journalist from this newspaper, David Leigh, who eventually tracked me down in Panama and, with one brief conversation, finally brought to an end my secret double life. 'I've got a photograph to show you,' he said, 'and I'm afraid it's not going to be very easy for you.'
It was, of course, the photograph of John and me with the estate agent Mario Vilar, taken in Panama the summer before last. 'The game's up, Anne,' he said. 'I'm sorry. We know you've been lying.'
Astonishingly, a member of the public had found the picture simply by Googling the words 'John' and 'Anne' and Panama. That is how easily our years of lying came tumbling around our ears.
Just weeks after leaving England to begin a new life in the sun, I would soon be heading back to face a very bleak and uncertain future. David Leigh told me that Cleveland police were now questioning John, and that it would soon by my turn.
I was only too aware that we could both go to jail if we were found to have committed fraud, which seemed highly likely. The prospect was terrifying beyond words.
AS THE plane taxied across the runway at Manchester airport, I found myself fighting back tears. The relentless drizzle seemed to reflect exactly my state of mind. Just how much trouble was I in?
For much of the long flight back from Panama, I had been lost in thought. The fear of never being reconciled with my two sons, now my lies to them had been exposed, was what terrified me the most — far more than the thought of going to prison. I was sure that they must hate me, and I felt utterly ashamed.
Then there were my poor parents, elderly and not in the best of health, and the rest of my family and friends — all, no doubt, horrified at what I'd done.
Who in their right mind would spend nearly six years pretending their husband had died, like I had? Lying to everyone I had ever cared about? Protecting him, covering for him, even living with him in the same house? And then moving abroad with him on the proceeds of ill-gotten gains? How could anyone want anything more to do with me ever again?
The plane came to a standstill at terminal two and the doors swung open. It quickly became apparent, however, that this was no ordinary airport arrival.
First on board were a Greater Manchester police sergeant and five other officers, some of them armed with sub-machine guns. 'We would like to speak to a Mrs Anne Darwin,' announced the sergeant to the startled flight attendants.
Passengers, already out of their seats and reaching for their bags, were instructed over the Tannoy to sit back down. There was a buzz of confusion and then excitement as people started to realise they had shared their flight home with me, Anne Darwin, the now infamous 'canoe widow' whose face had been all over the newspapers and TV.
All eyes were on me as, ashen-faced and totally panic-stricken, I made my way forward to the front of the cabin. I confirmed to the police officers that I was, indeed, who they thought I was, and they told me I was being arrested on suspicion of fraud.
I was shocked at the speed at which everything was happening. I really hadn't expected my homecoming to be like this, or to be arrested in such a public way. It's fair to say I was petrified.
- Anne Darwin will donate proceeds from the book to the RNLI and the RSPCA.
Adapted from Out Of My Depth by Anne Darwin with David Leigh, published by Mirror Books on October 6 at £8.99. © Anne Darwin with David Leigh 2016. To order a copy for £7.19 (until October 1, 2016), call 0844 571 0640 or visit mailbookshops.co.uk. P&P free on orders over £15.
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| 2022-04-21T17:42:28Z
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When an e-commerce store’s sales are lagging, it can often be traced back to the site’s user interface. Customers may not make it to the end of the funnel for a variety of reasons, whether it’s your site having a lot of pop-ups or ads, unclear return instructions or a lack of incentives to purchase.
Whatever the issue is, it’s important to ensure your customers have an easy path to make their purchases. Here, 15 Forbes Communications Council members share ways for e-commerce business leaders to improve their site’s user interface and, ultimately, maximize online conversions.
1. Start Heatmapping
Heatmaps visually represent where users click, move and scroll on your site. Learn how your users interact with your existing site first before making wholesale, expensive and unnecessary changes. It could be something simple to fix, or the heatmaps may tell you it’s time for a redesign or a refresh. Tools like Hotjar help you see this data easily. - Nestor Makarigakis, MISTRAS Group, Inc.
2. Use Machine Learning To Personalize Recommendations
User interface and targeted recommendations are the most important ways to convert casual viewers into repeatable paying customers. By using machine learning, e-commerce companies can select highly personal recommendations for their customers’ purchasing choices. This can be achieved in multiple ways using natural language processing and recommendation engines. - Henry Guo, oPRO.ai
3. Make Your Site User Friendly
Be sure you have constructed or arranged your sitemap in a UX-friendly manner. One reliable method is to create a hierarchical “mega menu” that makes it easy for users to navigate to your most popular products. Many online shoppers, especially those using a mobile device, are likely to bounce from an e-commerce page if it only offers them a byzantine network of internal links to navigate around the website. - Everett Millman, Gainesville Coins, LLC
4. Analyze The Customer Journey
Everything should start from the customer journey. Is there enough information? Is it readable? Can the client make an easy purchase without additional challenges? Then, the second point to check is when the lagging started. Was it something specific—maybe some circumstance, social media trend or any issue out of your zone of control? Sometimes, we are so deep in our products that we miss things happening around us. - Iryna Manukovska, XME.digital
5. Create Personalized Landing Pages
Reducing friction can be achieved in many ways. Of course, UX, one-click purchasing, remembering card details and so on are essential. However, a truly powerful way to increase conversions is through personalization. Using data to serve personalized landing pages and websites can help increase conversion rates dramatically. - Komal Helyer, Pure360
Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
6. Highlight The Superiority Of Your Product
Ensure you’re highlighting why your product is superior to and different from your competitor’s on key product pages. Rather than simply claiming your superlative status, use facts and data, then add real testimonials to back up your assertions. Users speak through their behavior on your site—if you listen closely, you can discern where your value proposition needs to be amplified. - Paul Colgin, Integrate Agency
7. Use Conversion Rate Optimization
The answer to maximizing conversions and improving the user experience is conversion rate optimization (CRO). This is a systematic approach to increasing the number of website visitors who complete a desired, high-value action. The approach includes identifying and testing solutions to resolve friction points along the path to conversion, continuously improving performance. - Robert Wallace, Tallwave
8. Use Your Site As A Consumer Every Day
This should be an ongoing effort for every retail leader. Consider a pretty basic practice that is sometimes overlooked: Be a consumer. Use your site every day—on desktop, on mobile, by voice. You’ll know what works and what doesn’t. Rely on analytics, of course. But trust your experience, too. Moreover, don’t assume your problem is UI. Analyze where you’re losing customers. Find the friction. - Indy Guha, Signifyd
9. Optimize Third-Party Codes
A common reason for a drop in e-commerce sales is site slowness. Third-party code builds up like crud over time. Often, pixel code placed for tagging, personalization and heatmapping is not optimized and leads to performance issues. API calls might return large monolithic payloads or make multiple calls to the backend. Optimizing code without changing the UI could lead to improved conversion. - Anand Rao, AutoNation
10. Watch How A Customer Uses Your Webpage
We encourage our clients to actually go on their sites and try to buy something, return something, exchange something and so forth, and then, watch others with no internal knowledge do the same. Amazingly, they find the transaction pathways designed by the programmers are often not as clear to the end user as they are to the programmer. Technology is great, but sometimes answers are simpler than a logarithm. - R. Scott French, VERY New York
11. Keep Package Offers Simple
If sales are lagging, make sure you’re not providing buyers with too many package options for a given product or service. Keep packages to no more than three or four options, showing a clear progression in what is offered from one package to the next. Finish with a prominent call-to-action button to buy. - Nysha King, Healthmonix
12. Look At Your Marketing Campaigns
Analyzing your site gives you insight into navigation patterns, user experience and abandonment, but marketing campaigns can also influence conversion rates. Is your site receiving qualified traffic? Is your ad copy consistent with your website? What are your competitors doing? Are your pricing and promotion strategies right? It all affects your e-commerce sales. - Jessica Wong, Valux Digital
13. Segment Audiences And Personalize At Scale
Find ways to personalize the entire experience. More often than not, the problem will lie with marketing messages missing their mark due to poor audience segmentation and absence of personalization at scale. Improving the relationship by focusing on these two, combined with a more personalized experience within the store itself, is the first step in improving conversions. - Pini Yakuel, Optimove
14. Offer Incentives To Specific Communities
If online sales are lagging, you need to have an offer that stands out. One way to do that is to offer discounts to specific communities such as students, seniors or teachers. People appreciate being rewarded for their life stage or profession, and based on research we’ve conducted, we know that they actively redeem and share these offers with others in the community. - Sai Koppala, SheerID
15. Focus On Quality Over Quantity
Take a “quality over quantity” approach with all your digital channels—fewer pieces of content, fewer paths to distraction, fewer pop-ups, fewer everything. You can balance personalization and brand purpose and deliver experiences that are authentic and high-value by looking at micro-behavior data to see what people are gravitating toward and what they are staying away from as you clarify the experience. - Niki Hall, Contentsquare
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| 2022-04-21T17:44:10Z
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NEW YORK (AP) — Shopping for Passover on a recent day at a kosher supermarket in the Hasidic Jewish section of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, Moshe Werzberger worried about how inflation is driving up prices during one of the most important holidays for Jews.
“It affects us very much,” said the 23-year-old, who recently canceled plans to vacation in Florida with his wife and 2-year-old son because of skyrocketing prices. Inflation has become a main topic of debate for worshippers at his synagogue and also in his extended family as they share the celebratory Passover meals, Seders.
“It just keeps on going up and up …” he said as announcements rang out in Yiddish on the store's intercom. “And at some point it’s going to have to stop, or no one is going to be able to afford to go shopping.”
As households feel the squeeze of surging consumer prices, some U.S. Jewish families observing Passover have struggled to pay for eggs, gefilte fish and the unleavened bread known as matzo, which represents their ancestors’ exodus from slavery in Egypt.
The need is so great that the Met Council, which runs the country’s largest kosher food pantry, expects to supply a record of nearly 3 million pounds of food in Passover packages and $500,000 in emergency food cards among the Jewish community in greater New York City and New Jersey.
“We’ve been doing charitable work for 50 years, and we’ve never seen anything like this,” said David Greenfield, the council's executive director. He added that there's “no question” that hundreds of thousands of families are eating less meat during Passover, which this year falls from April 15 to 23.
Grocery prices rose 10% in March on a year-on-year basis — the most in 41 years — driven by higher prices for poultry, fish, eggs, beef and other meats.
The reasons for the surge vary: supply chain snags, unfavorable weather and rising energy prices. The latter, driven by Russia’s war against Ukraine, pushed wholesale prices up a record 11.2% last month from a year earlier. Transportation problems are weighing on food imports, particularly seeds and other items that produce oils.
The only thing likely to put a dent in inflationary pressures is the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates, said Laura Veldkamp, a professor of finance and economics at Columbia University. But families suffering sticker shock from shopping for Seders can’t expect a respite anytime soon.
“Last year there were a number of government subsidies and programs that people were able to tap into," said Yitzy Weinberg, executive director of Flatbush Community Fund, a Brooklyn-based charity. "But this year the COVID subsidies are over, and between that and inflation, it was a double whammy that hit working families when they needed it the most.”
Weinberg's organization has distributed food, grocery cards and checks to more than 1,100 families this Passover, up from 850 last year.
Diana Kogan, director of Caring for Jews in Need, an initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, said inflation and shortages have been “a huge issue” for Jewish groups in Southern California that provide holiday food packages to vulnerable communities including older adults, Holocaust survivors and people without housing.
“Kosher meat, kosher chicken in particular, has been an issue,” she said. “Chicken used to be $1.89 per pound. But this year it’s over $3 a pound. We’ve also seen a 20% to 30% increase in kosher food prices.”
Kogan said groups such as Jewish Family Service of LA and Tomei LA have been stockpiling food since before Passover, buying items when they are on sale. But that has created a need for storage space, freezers and generators.
Meanwhile some organizations that hand out both food packets and gift cards during Passover are finding that people often prefer to get the packets.
“That’s because the prices of items are so high,” Kogan said. “The gift cards don’t go too far.”
Kosher products tend to be slightly more expensive. But Passover products are even costlier, according to the Met Council's Greenfield, because there needs to be an extra certification that there’s no there’s no leavening or bread involved.
“Passover is the most expensive time of the year for someone who keeps kosher,” he said.
Back at the supermarket in Brooklyn, Eliot Spitzer, perused the vegetable aisle with two of his seven children, 9-year-old Faigy and 11-year-old Abba. His family hosted a Seder for 14 people at their home, and he said high prices have made things tough for everyone this Passover.
“It’s definitely harder,” Spitzer said. “We (Hasidic Jews) have bigger families — average seven, eight, nine kids per family — and it’s not easy.”
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Associated Press reporter Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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| 2022-04-21T17:46:59Z
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Bride, caterer charged after lacing wedding food with drugs, sickening guests, officials say
LONGWOOD, Fla. (Gray News) - A bride and a food caterer are facing charges after police said they laced wedding food with drugs, which sickened multiple guests.
The bride, Danya Glenny, and the caterer, Joycelyn Bryant, were both arrested Monday.
According to an offense report from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, first responders were called to a wedding venue on Feb. 19 in Longwood, just north of Orlando, after a wedding guest called 911 because he was “feeling weird.”
When first responders arrived, the guest told them he had drank wine but he “felt like he had drugs inside him.”
Firefighters with the Seminole County Fire Department treated multiple wedding guests on the scene who were feeling sick, complaining of stomach pains and vomiting. One wedding guest requested more help because people were “getting worse.”
At least one guest was taken to the hospital.
According to the offense report, officers discovered guests had likely ingested cannabis through the food that was being served by the catering company Joycelyn’s Southern Kitchen.
Several guests told deputies that they wished to press charges if their food had been laced with drugs.
Deputies collected food as evidence to be tested for drugs, including chocolate-covered strawberries, bread, wine, lasagna, cookies and brownies.
After investigating, the sheriff’s office arrested Glenny and Bryant. Both were charged with delivery of marijuana, culpable negligence and breaking the Florida anti-tampering act.
Both women were released on bond and are expected in court in June.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T17:51:25Z
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Third suspect arrested in South Carolina mall shooting
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Police have arrested a third suspect accused of participating in an Easter weekend shootout at a South Carolina mall that wounded nine people.
The Columbia Police Department said Thursday on Twitter that Amari Sincere-Jamal Smith, 21, of Columbia, turned himself in after authorities obtained arrest warrants earlier this week.
Smith and two other men face charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault after police said they brought guns to a busy Columbia shopping center, eventually shooting nine bystanders. Another six were injured in the rush to exit Columbiana Centre in the state’s capital city. No fatalities have been announced in the incident.
Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said at a Monday news conference that the three identified suspects knew each other and the attack was not random.
“Emotions took over, you had firearms that were introduced into the dispute, gunfire was exchanged and innocent people got injured in the crossfire,” Holbrook said.
Police said Smith also faces a charge of unlawfully carrying a pistol. Smith was scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday afternoon, according to online court records.
A judge denied bond for two other defendants, Jewayne M. Price and Marquise Love Robinson, on Tuesday, news outlets reported.
The mall shootout was one of two mass shootings that rocked the state over the Easter holiday weekend. State police are investigating after at least nine people were also shot at a nightclub in Hampton County that weekend.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T17:51:56Z
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Tulsa cop says he can't recall shooting that killed sergeant
A Tulsa police officer who was wounded in a shooting that killed a police sergeant told jurors Thursday that he does not remember the events of that night, including what led to the gunfire
Tulsa cop says he can't recall shooting that killed sergeant
Show all 3A Tulsa police officer who was wounded in a shooting that killed a police sergeant told jurors Thursday that he does not remember the events of that night, including what led to the gunfire.
Officer Aurash Zarkeshan testified in the murder trial of David Anthony Ware, saying he has not watched video of the June 2020 shooting that killed Sgt. Craig Johnson because "I don't want to see myself or my friend be shot."
Defense attorney Kevin Adams has said that Ware, 34, feared for his life because the officers beat, kicked, pepper sprayed and shot him with a stun gun after a traffic stop. Prosecutors say Ware escalated the situation by refusing to obey the officers' commands as they sought to get him out of his vehicle.
Under cross-examination by Adams, Zarkeshan acknowledged that videos would show truthfully the events leading to the shooting, but that he still does not want to watch.
“If finding out the truth means I have to watch myself and my friend be shot, then I don't want to know” exactly what happened, Zarkeshan said.
Ware, who is also charged with shooting with intent to kill Zarkeshan, has pleaded not guilty. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
Zarkeshan denied that a social media post in which he said he was employed by the city of Tulsa's waste management department was a reference to suspected criminals being garbage.
Zarkeshan said he never worked for the city's waste management department and that the post was a “bad joke” when he was in police academy. He said he wanted to show he worked for the city, but not that he was with the Tulsa Police Department because he was not yet an officer.
Zarkeshan had been on patrol for less than six weeks before the shooting after graduating from the police academy in the spring, according to police.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray said during opening statements that Zarkeshan pulled Ware over about 3 a.m. after he saw him run a stop sign and then take a wide turn into another lane of traffic. Ware then failed to produce a driver’s license or proof of insurance when Zarkeshan asked him to provide those documents, Gray said.
Matthew Hall was convicted of being an accessory to a felony for driving Ware from the scene after the shooting.
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| 2022-04-21T17:54:50Z
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WFO HOUSTON/GALVESTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, April 22, 2022
_____
BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT
Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1216 PM CDT Thu Apr 21 2022
...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY
EVENING...
* WHAT...High risk of rip currents, elevated seas and surf, and
tides 1 to 2 feet above normal.
* WHERE...Matagorda Islands, Brazoria Islands, Galveston Island,
and Bolivar Peninsula.
* WHEN...Through Friday evening.
* IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away
from shore into deeper water. Minor coastal flooding is
possible at the lowest and more susceptible roadways around
times of high tide.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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| 2022-04-21T17:57:36Z
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Two US states plan executions the same day
Death row inmates Oscar Franklin Smith (L), and Carl Buntion, both of whom were scheduled to be executed
Texas and Tennessee prepared Thursday to execute their oldest Death Row inmates, men in their 70s who were both convicted of murder.
In Texas, lawyers for Carl Buntion, 78 and convicted of killing a policeman more than 30 years ago, have filed a final appeal to the US Supreme Court seeking a stay. If it is rejected he will be executed by lethal injection in the early evening.
Tennessee for its part planned to execute Oscar Franklin Smith, 72, by lethal injection for killing his estranged wife and her two teenage sons in 1989.
Buntion, who does not dispute his guilt, is the oldest man on Death Row in Texas, the conservative southern state which puts more prisoners to death than any other American state.
His lawyers have argued that executing him now, so many years after his crime, would constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," which is banned under the US constitution.
Texas law also requires it be established that Buntion would likely harm others if he is not executed, his lawyers said.
Buntion, they said, poses no danger to anyone and suffers from multiple ailments including arthritis, vertigo, hepatitis, sciatic nerve pain and cirrhosis.
"Mr. Buntion is a frail, elderly man," his lawyers said in a petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, "and will not be a threat to anyone in prison if his sentence is reduced to a lesser penalty."
Buntion has also been in solitary confinement for the past 20 years, restricted to his cell for 23 hours a day.
In June 1990, he shot and killed a Houston police officer during a routine traffic stop.
At that point he already had a long criminal record and was out on parole after a conviction for sexually assaulting a minor.
In 1991 Buntion was sentenced to death. The sentence was vacated in 2009 by the state's highest court but three years later another jury reinstated it.
Last year the US Supreme Court declined to issue a stay of execution for Buntion.
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| 2022-04-21T17:58:51Z
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Republican rips Democrats for investigation into Commanders
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican on the U.S. House Committee for Oversight and Reform blasted Democrats on Thursday for their investigation into the NFL´s Washington Commanders.
James Comer of Kentucky in a letter to Democratic committee chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney called the investigation into the team´s workplace culture and business dealings a sham that is wasting taxpayer resources.
"The primary mission of the House Oversight and Reform Committee is to root out waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the federal government," Comer wrote. "Unfortunately, your so-called "investigation" into the Washington Commanders lacks even any foundation for exercising congressional oversight authority."
The committee last week referred the case to the Federal Trade Commission citing evidence the team may have engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct. The Commanders wrote to the FTC on Monday denying allegations made by a former employee and citing documents to refute his claims.
Comer sided with the Commanders and said the committee had taken a "one-sided approach" by relying on the testimony of longtime vice president of sales Jason Friedman. He also called the investigation an attempt to distract the public.
"Your reckless, ends-oriented investigation is an embarrassment to our committee and a misuse of congressional oversight authority," Comer wrote. "It is yet another example of Democrats exceeding the bounds of what is permissible for Congress to investigate."
Owner Dan Snyder has long been a Republican donor. Separate from the Congressional investigation, which began after the NFL did not release a report of an investigation into the team's workplace culture, the Commanders are in the midst of a lengthy search for a site for their new stadium with Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia all potential options.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-04-21T17:59:37Z
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Nicolas Cage faces off with a new foe: himself
NEW YORK (AP) - "Metropolis." Bruce Lee. Woody Woodpecker. A pet cobra. All of these things have been inspirations behind Nicolas Cage performances - sometimes private homages that the actor has used like blueprints to build some of his most exaggerated, erratic and affecting characters.
A conversation with Cage, likewise, pulls from a wide gamut of sources. In a recent and typically wide-ranging interview ahead of the release of "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Cage touched on Picasso, Elia Kazan, Timothée Chalamet and Francis Bacon. A book of interviews with Bacon, "The Brutality of Fact," for instance, helped Cage define his attraction to intense, even grotesque performance - "that which is not obviously beautiful," he says - rather than naturalism.
"And I´ve kind of approached my public perception, as well as the way I design my film work, as an actor with that concept in mind -- to not be afraid to be ugly in behavior or even in appearance," says Cage. "To create a kind of taste that you have to discover."
With more than 100 films, the 58-year-old Cage - an Oscar-winner ("Leaving Las Vegas"), an action star ("Con Air") and the source of countless Internet memes for his most theatrical moments in films like "Face/Off" - has long been one of the most particular tastes in movies. Yet by being "an amateur surrealist," as he refers to himself, Cage has emerged - even after resorting to a string of VOD releases to pay off back taxes and get himself out of debt - as one of Hollywood's most widely loved stars. As "Unbearable Weight" director Tom Gormican says, "the sight of his face sort of makes people happy."
But for even the mercurial Cage, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," which opens in theaters Friday, represents something different. In it, Cage plays himself. Or, rather, he plays a fun-house mirror version of himself that sometimes interacts with a younger version of himself. The movie is one big homage to Cage in which the actor somehow manages to both satirize perceptions of himself and act out those personas sincerely.
"The through line that´s always been there for me: No matter what I designed, and it has been a design whether it´s ridiculous - and it´s often ridiculous - or whether it´s sublime, it has to be informed with genuine emotional content," says Cage.
Nicolas Cage poses for a portrait to promote "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" in New York on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
"No matter how broad or what some folk like to call over the top, it had genuine feeling."
But what to Cage constitutes over the top? This is the actor who, channeling Nosferatu in "Vampire's Kiss," gave one of the most bonkers recitals of the alphabet ever heard. He's fond of answering: "Well, show me where the top is and I'll tell you if I'm over it."
"I grew up in a house where my mom would do things that if you put it in a movie, you would say that was over the top," says Cage, whose mother, Joy Coppola, was a dancer and choreographer. His father, August Coppola, brother of Francis, was a professor of literature. "But what is the top? When you want to design something and you think about different styles - naturalism, impressionism, surrealism, abstract - then you start to look at it in a different way. It´s not going to be for everybody and it´s not necessarily going to sell tickets. But that´s OK."
"Movies are a business and it was not without peril that I took this path, but it was important to me," he adds. "I stuck by it and, sure, I got plenty of rotten tomatoes thrown in my face. But I knew that was going to happen so it wasn´t anything I didn´t expect."
But what's unusual about Cage is that many of those experiments HAVE sold tickets. A lot of them. Cage's films account for nearly $5 billion in worldwide box office. Still, it's been a while since he was front-and-center in a major studio film.
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," which Lionsgate premiered at South by Southwest to warm reviews, allows him to play around with the notion of a comeback. In the film, he's desperate to score better parts than the birthday party he's been offered $1 million to attend. The movie was an opportunity to wrestle - usually comically, sometimes physically - with his own exaggerated mythology.
"He would come up to me and say, (lowers voice) `Tom, there´s a guy who wears rings and leather jackets and he lives in Las Vegas and he would never say that line,´" recalls Gormican. "And I would go, `Oh, you mean you.´ He´d say, `Yes.´ And I´d be like, `Well, it´s not you. It´s a character based on you.´ And he´d go, `But he has my name.´ I was like, `Come on, man, just say the line.´"
"We´d have discussions about who understood Nick Cage more," adds Gormican, laughing.
Gormican was initially turned down several times by Cage before a heartfelt letter finally convinced the actor to make the film. The issue was that Cage, even at his most outlandish, has never put quotation marks around his performances. He tends to invest fully in even the most unhinged characters. (Werner Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans" comes to mind.) Cage initially feared Gormican´s film would be self-mocking parody, and while it has those elements, Cage steers it in more unpredictable directions.
"Without mentioning names, there were some actors that came out of the gate that I thought were really sincere and profoundly emotional and honest in the beginning and then became too high on their own supply," Cage says. "They started winking at the audience and, in my opinion, it lost the emotional connection. It´s a slippery slope when you make the decision that you want to be emotional and raw."
The actor does reach some gonzo heights in the film. After one scene, Gormican was honored to hear Cage say: "That was the Full Cage. You got the Full Cage." Another scene features the two Cages making out, after which the younger exclaims, "Nick Cage smooches good!"
Cage's own exotic tastes - he once had to return a dinosaur skull he purchased that had been stolen from Mongolia - have contributed to his legend. But he insists that he is normal in his life so that he can be extreme in his work - and that some of his self-promotion, like an infamously nutty appearance on "Wogan," was itself an act.
Cage last year married Riko Shibata, his fifth wife, and they are expecting a child. (Cage also has two grown sons; a sticking point in "Unbearable Weight" was that he not be shown as an absentee father - one fiction Cage wouldn't permit.) After an unusually introspective press tour for the film, Cage is looking forward to returning to the desert outside Las Vegas, where he lives. He could use a break from "Nick Cage."
But "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" wraps a chapter for the actor. He's finally out of the red after making some 30 video-on-demand films over the last decade to pay off the IRS and his creditors. He makes no apologies for those films. They made him a better actor, he says.
"I was practicing. I managed to keep my access to my imagination at my fingertips. It was a much better way for me to get this financial crisis off my back than doing something like a Super Bowl commercial - and believe me they offered," says Cage. "That was also a point for me, that I´m not a salesman, I´m an actor."
Cage can also once again feel some mainstream momentum behind him. His performance in last year's "Pig," as a grizzled truffle hunter with a past, earned some of his best reviews in years. It was a more naturalistic performance than Cage is generally known for - and a reminder of his limitless range. Having started professionally at 15, Cage reminds that he's been doing this a long time. To him, his path began, appropriately enough, with an audacious performance.
Cage's father, the actor says, had a massive influence on him, exposing him to books, early films and paintings. But he could cut his son down with words.
"And I just wasn´t going to take it," says Cage. "I knew that he thought more of me than he let on. I tricked him once and I did something that I´ve never done ever again. I lied. I said, `Dad, I wrote this song.´ And I played him Joe Jackson´s "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" And he believed me. He said, "Wow, Nicky, that´s incredible." Then I got the positive affirmation that I needed to believe in myself. That was the one time a lie saved me."
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
This image released by Lionsgate shows Pedro Pascal, right, and Nicolas Cage in a scene from "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." (Karen Ballard/Lionsgate via AP)
Nicolas Cage poses for a portrait to promote "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" in New York on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Nicolas Cage as himself in a scene from "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." (Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate via AP)
Nicolas Cage poses for a portrait to promote "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" in New York on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
Ike Barinholtz, from left, Tiffany Haddish, Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, and Lily Mo Sheen arrive at the premiere of "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" at the Directors Guild of America on Monday, April 18, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Nicolas Cage poses for a portrait to promote "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" in New York on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
Nicolas Cage, right and Riko Shibata arrive at the premiere of "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" at the Directors Guild of America on Monday, April 18, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Tiffany Haddish, left, and Nicolas Cage in a scene from "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." (Karen Ballard/Lionsgate via AP)
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| 2022-04-21T17:59:43Z
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Fire training, equipment lacking at US nuclear dump
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The U.S. government´s nuclear waste repository in New Mexico has major issues in fire training and firefighting vehicles, with its fleet in disrepair after years of neglect, according to an investigation by the U.S. Energy Department´s Office of Inspector General.
The investigation was spurred by allegations regarding fire protection concerns at the repository, which is the backbone of a multibillion-dollar effort to clean up Cold War-era waste from past nuclear research and bomb making at national laboratories and defense sites across the U.S.
Investigators noted that the issues with the fire department training program went back to at least 2016. They pointed to an undeveloped training curriculum for the technical rescue program and claims by firefighters that their training needs weren't being met.
According to the inspector general's report, the issues persisted because the contractor that manages the repository inadequately addressed and closed recommendations from prior internal assessments that were aimed at fixing the deficiencies. The report also blamed inadequate oversight by Energy Department officials.
"WIPP has experienced growth with the number of buildings and employees since 2006 and is anticipated to operate beyond 2050. The next management and operating contractor must be able to provide effective emergency response at WIPP to protect lives, property and the environment," the Office of Inspector General stated.
Energy Department officials in a response to the inspector general said the agency has followed through with corrective actions and will continue to "'make progress on ensuring local fire departments and first responders have all necessary training and equipment to handle any event in relation to WIPP's operations."
Still, agency officials acknowledged there was more work to do.
The safety concerns come as New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and others voice opposition to expanding the types of radioactive waste that can be shipped to the repository. In a letter sent this month to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the first-term Democratic governor noted ongoing frustration regarding the lack of meaningful public engagement from federal officials on waste cleanup, shipments and long-term plans for the repository.
Just this month, the work of processing incoming waste shipments was temporarily halted after workers discovered radioactive liquid in a container sent from the Idaho National Laboratory.
The latest report from a federal oversight board also cited three recent incidents, including one in which a container from Los Alamos National Laboratory was placed underground without adequate analysis for its flammability. The container ended up posing no risk.
Nuclear Waste Partnership, the contractor that manages the repository, expanded its fire brigade to a department with full-time emergency responders following two emergencies in 2014. One was a fire involving a salt-hauling truck that was followed days later by a radiation release from a drum that had been inappropriately packed at Los Alamos.
The incidents prompted major policy and procedure overhauls related to the national cleanup program.
According to the inspector general, a 2019 review found that nearly half of the repository's firefighters had not participated in required live training for at least one year and that some had not participated in over two years. Another review in April 2021 found that not all firefighter training records were maintained in accordance with the hazardous waste permit issued by the state Environment Department.
In interviews, several firefighters told investigators that the majority of training was web-based as opposed to hands-on fire drills, vehicle extrications or rope training. The firefighters expressed concern that without adequate training, they would lose their skills.
As for the fire department's fleet, federal officials said they were in the process of revising maintenance procedures and that about $1.2 million was spent to purchase two new fire trucks in 2021.
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| 2022-04-21T18:00:34Z
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The Chicago Bulls knew what was coming when they exited the Fiserv Forum locker room for the second half of Game 2.
With a 63-49 lead in their pocket, the Bulls were more confident than they’d been in a game in weeks. But a double-digit lead only means so much when two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is staring you down from across the court.
So the Bulls knew what needed to happen to withstand the oncoming flurry from the Bucks — bend, but don’t break.
“We talked about it at halftime, not coming out of the second half lackadaisical,” DeMar DeRozan said. “We were ready for it. We had a lot of games this year where we came out in the third quarter and laid an egg. This time around we were just trying to understand the moment.”
The next two quarters devolved into a dogfight between the both team’s stars. Khris Middleton sank four 3-pointers in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo leapt between Bulls players to rebound a missed free throw and jam it into the basket to cut the lead down to eight points, then smacked away DeRozan’s final shot of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, DeRozan knocked down back-to-back jumpers over Antetokounmpo’s hand. Nikola Vučević sank a pair of 3-pointers from the top of the arc. Alex Caruso stepped in front of Antetokounmpo for the final play of the game, drawing a charge to snuff out the last attempt at a tying drive.
When the Bucks pulled within three points in the third, the Bulls stars grabbed each other to form a huddle on the court. The tone was urgent, but coach Billy Donovan said it held an undercurrent of self-belief: “Hey, we’re going to make a run. Now it’s time for us to respond. We’ve got to respond right now.”
For the Bulls, managing the topsy-turvy nature of a playoff game has been a key learning curve in this opening series. This is an unexperienced postseason team — DeRozan, Caruso and Tristan Thompson have played and won in the postseason, but stars like Zach LaVine are unexperienced in this atmosphere.
Donovan warned his players that it’s rare to hold a lead in the playoffs. That rang true in Game 2 as the Bulls repelled three Bucks’ comeback attempts that nearly swung the score.
The Bucks went on a 17-6 run to close the third quarter. The Bulls countered with a 9-0 run to start the fourth. Each time the score ticked closer, the Milwaukee crowd rumbled into a pitched roar, heightening every play and jeering every mistake.
“The really good teams in this league, they do that,” Donovan said. “They understand the swings in the game, they don’t get emotionally wrapped up and they’re able to focus on the next possession in front of them and just go out there and play. I think we’ve learned some of that.”
At times this season, the Bulls have looked shaken, even defeated. They dug themselves into holes in first quarters and imploded in third quarters. Injuries forced young players into roles they weren’t expected to carry. The team ended the regular season with a dismal losing spell, giving up crushing losses that created a fair cloud of questions over whether this team had the legs to even get a single playoff win.
“The last four home games, that really was not us at all,” Donovan said. “It was disappointing to be playing and feel like we were better than that.”
But Wednesday’s win returned the Bulls to the roots of the team that sat atop the Eastern Conference at the start of the year.
Caruso noted the game plan for Game 2 wasn’t that different from Game 1. The defensive scheme stayed the same. The offense still ran through DeRozan and Vučević. The difference came from intensity, an intangible that required nonstop focus to keep the Bucks from breaking through.
The win gave the Bulls a lift they’ve been needing for months. And as they return to Chicago for their first home playoff game, it’s the type of momentum they hope can swing a series.
“We had a long season, we had a lot of adversity,” Caruso said. “It was almost a little bit like we were just trying to start the playoffs already. We were kind of in a hole, but we got our spirit back.”
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https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/21/the-chicago-bulls-returned-to-the-best-of-themselves-in-their-game-2-will-it-be-enough-to-swing-the-series/
| 2022-04-21T18:00:41Z
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https://www.twincities.com/2022/04/21/the-chicago-bulls-returned-to-the-best-of-themselves-in-their-game-2-will-it-be-enough-to-swing-the-series/
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Rates for measles, other vaccinations dip for kindergartners
A smaller portion of U.S. children got routine vaccinations required for kindergarten during the pandemic, government researchers said Thursday, raising concerns that measles and other preventable diseases could increase.
Rates were close to 94% for measles, whooping cough and chickenpox vaccinations for the 2020-21 school year. That was down 1% from a year earlier and means 35,000 U.S. children entered kindergarten without evidence that they were vaccinated for extremely contagious diseases, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report.
In addition, almost 400,000 fewer children than expected entered kindergarten and their vaccination status is uncertain, the CDC said.
Pandemic-related disruptions likely contributed to the decline, the report said, as pediatricians canceled non-emergency appointments, parents skipped checkups for their children and vaccine requirements were eased for students doing remote learning.
"We haven´t seen outbreaks and that´s probably representative of the fact that families were staying home during the pandemic,´´ said Dr. Georgina Peacock, the CDC´s director of immunization services. But authorities worry that could change if kids remain behind on their shots as more people return to normal routines.
Data for the current school year, due in November, should indicate whether the lag persisted, said the CDC´s Shannon Stokley.
FILE - This Friday, May 17, 2019 file photo shows a vial of a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in Mount Vernon, Ohio. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, April 21, 2022, a smaller portion of U.S. children got routine vaccinations required for kindergarten during the pandemic, raising concerns that measles and other preventable diseases could increase. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon, File)
The data come from schools' reports on vaccination rates in 47 states plus Washington, D.C. The CDC said staffing shortages and other pandemic disruptions could have led to incomplete or absent school reports, a limitation in assessing the true vaccination rates.
In 16 states, rates for kids entering kindergarten were at least 95% for measles shots and for the combination diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough shot. The rates were below 90% for the combined whooping cough shot in eight states plus Washington, D.C., and in seven states plus Washington, D.C., for measles shots.
For chickenpox vaccinations, 17 states had rates of at least 95% and nine plus Washington, D.C., had rates below 90%.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute´s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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| 2022-04-21T18:00:47Z
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EXPLAINER: Thorny issues face Boy Scouts bankruptcy judge
DOVER, Del. (AP) - More than two years after the Boy Scouts of America sought bankruptcy protection to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers, a Delaware judge is weighing whether to confirm the BSA´s reorganization plan.
After a three-week evidentiary hearing and nearly a week of closing arguments, the judge is expected to rule within the next few weeks. The issues facing Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein are controversial and complex. No matter how she rules, the case will head next to a federal district court, with appeals likely to follow. Here is a brief look at bankruptcy case.
THE PLAN
The reorganization plan calls for the BSA and its 250 local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, to contribute some $2.6 billion in cash and property to a fund for abuse victims.
In return for those contributions, those entities would be released from further liability, meaning they could not be sued for Scout-related abuse claims. But the plan allows abuse claimants to sue insurance companies and local troop sponsoring organizations that do not enter into their own settlements within one year.
The settlement trust would be overseen by Barbara Houser, a retired Texas bankruptcy judge who served as lead mediator in Puerto Rico´s bankruptcy. She would be assisted by retired federal judges Diane Welch and Michael Reagan, who would serve as claims administrators. Houser would be required to consult with a 7-member advisory committee consisting of attorneys representing abuse claimants.
FILE - This Wednesday, May 21, 2014 file photo shows merit badges and a rainbow-colored neckerchief slider on a Boy Scout uniform outside the headquarters of Amazon in Seattle. A Delaware judge is facing a host of controversial and complex issues as she weighs whether to approve the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy reorganization plan. The BSA sought bankruptcy protection more than two years ago to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
THE CLAIMS
When it filed for bankruptcy, the BSA was facing about 275 filed lawsuits, and was aware of roughly another 1,400 pending claims, but more than 82,200 abuse claims are before the bankruptcy court.
Attorneys for BSA insurers, including those that have since reached settlements and now support the plan, have said the sheer volume of claims is an indication of fraud and the result of aggressive client solicitation by attorneys and for-profit claims aggregators.
Although there are more than 82,000 abuse claimants in the case, only 56,536 voted on the plan, with 86% voting to accept.
THE SETTLEMENT FUND
The Boy Scouts of America is contributing less than 10% of the proposed settlement fund, offering property valued at about $80 million, an $80 million promissory note, and roughly $20 million cash.
The 250 local BSA councils, which run day-to-day operations for troops, would contribute at least $515 million in cash and property, and an interest-bearing note of at least $100 million.
The BSA´s two largest insurers, Century Indemnity and The Hartford, would contribute $800 million and $787 million, respectively. Other insurers have agreed to contribute about $69 million. The BSA´s former largest troop sponsor, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would contribute $250 million for abuse claims involving the Mormon church. Congregations affiliated with the United Methodist Church would contribute $30 million.
CHARTERED ORGANIZATIONS
A key issue in the bankruptcy has been the treatment of local troop sponsoring organizations, known as "chartered organizations," and their rights under BSA insurance policies. Those organizations, numbering in the tens of thousands, include religious entities, civic associations and community groups.
Under the plan, virtually every Roman Catholic entity nationwide, including parishes, schools and dioceses, would be released from liability for all Scouting-related abuse claims from 1976 to the present. They also would be protected from all pre-1976 claims covered by the BSA´s settling insurers and would be granted 12 months to negotiate financial contributions to the settlement fund in exchange for a full release.
In exchange, Catholic entities would release their insurance rights and agree to work with the Boy Scouts through at least 2036 to improve and support Scouting and increase enrollment. A similar support provision was included in the United Methodist settlement. Those provisions could prove critical for the Boy Scouts after decades of steady membership declines.
INSURANCE
While some BSA insurers have negotiated settlements for a fraction of the billions of dollars in liability exposure they potentially faced, other insurance companies continue to challenge the plan. They contend the fund distribution procedures violate their rights and would result in grossly inflated payments of abuse claims, including tens of thousands otherwise barred by the passage of time. Opposing insurers also say the findings plan supporters want the judge to make would bind them and make it difficult to challenge claim decisions. In an email, one attorney for abuse claimants described such binding trust distribution procedures as a "Holy Grail" that mass tort lawyers have been chasing for years. Insurers say approval by the judge would set a dangerous precedent tort lawyers would use to their advantage in future lawsuits.
THIRD PARTY RELEASES
Perhaps the most contentious issue in the bankruptcy, and the one most fraught with legal difficulty, is whether third parties, including insurers, local BSA councils and troop sponsors, should be allowed to escape future liability by contributing to the victims fund, or at least not objecting to the plan.
Some survivors argue that releasing their claims against non-debtor third parties without their consent violates their due process rights. The U.S. bankruptcy trustee, the government´s "watchdog" in Chapter 11 bankruptcies, argues that such releases are not allowed under the bankruptcy code.
Such third-party releases, spawned by asbestos and product-liability cases, have been criticized as an unconstitutional form of "bankruptcy grifting," where non-debtor entities obtain benefits by joining with a debtor to resolve mass-tort litigation in bankruptcy.
Federal courts in some jurisdictions, including Delaware, have allowed third-party releases, while courts in other jurisdictions have rejected them.
In December, a New York judge rejected a proposed settlement in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy because members of the Sackler family, which owns the maker of OxyContin, would be protected from civil liability in exchange for paying billions of dollars. A federal appeals court will hear arguments on that ruling next week.
Unlike the Purdue case, however, the BSA plan provides broad, nonconsensual releases to thousands of entities, many of which have not contributed to the settlement trust, or even been identified.
"Thousands of unknown persons will receive participation trophies without even having to participate," said David Buchbinder, an attorney for the U.S. trustee.
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| 2022-04-21T18:01:07Z
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https://sportspyder.com/mlb/tampa-bay-rays/articles/39235580
| 2022-04-21T18:02:38Z
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UPDATE 1-Six killed in fire at Russian defense research institute - reports
April 21 (Reuters) - Six people were killed on Thursday after a blaze broke out at a defense research institute in the Russian city of Tver about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Moscow, Russian news agencies quoted local authorities as saying.
The authorities said 27 people had been injured. TASS news agency reported, citing emergency services, that at least 10 people were missing.
Footage from the scene circulating on Russian social media showed thick smoke and flames billowing from the institute's windows. There was no official word on what caused the fire.
The institute is engaged in aerospace research, including on a unified air defense system for the CIS bloc of former Soviet republics, according to the Russian defense ministry's website. (Reporting by Reuters)
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| 2022-04-21T18:04:02Z
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-10740347/UPDATE-1-Six-killed-fire-Russian-defense-research-institute--reports.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
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WASHINGTON — CNN's brand-new streaming service, CNN+, is shutting down only a month after launch.
In a Thursday memo, incoming CNN chief executive Chris Licht said the service would shut down at the end of April.
CNN+ launched when its parent was still part of AT&T. It combined with Discovery earlier this month in a new company, Warner Bros. Discovery, under Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who had his own vision for CNN and its Warner siblings.
In his memo, Licht said consumers wanted “simplicity and an all-in service” rather than “stand-alone offerings.” Discovery had previously suggested that it wanted to merge the new company's separate streaming services, which include Discovery+ and HBO Max, into a single app.
Licht said some CNN+ content will wind up on other company networks, and the streaming service's employees will get opportunities to apply for jobs elsewhere inside Warner Bros. Discovery. The head of CNN+, Andrew Morse, is leaving the company.
“While today’s decision is incredibly difficult, it is the right one for the long-term success of CNN. It allows us to refocus resources on the core products that drive our singular focus: further enhancing CNN’s journalism and its reputation as a global news leader,” Licht wrote.
Under AT&T, there were $100 million in development costs and some 500 employees assigned to building out CNN+.
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| 2022-04-21T18:09:52Z
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama have arrested two people who are accused of breaking into a New Orleans-area estate belonging to Louisiana’s lieutenant governor, stealing from it and setting a fire.
Tuscaloosa police arrested Robert Kelly and Angela Goodfellow, both 43, on burglary and simple arson charges after getting word that a Jeep allegedly used in the theft was in the area, news outlets reported.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told reporters robbers smashed antique china and stole rare coins, sports and political memorabilia and liquor from his house and a dump truck from across the street. The truck, still holding some of his belongings, was found in Mississippi.
Kelly and Goodfellow are from Slidell, Louisiana, news outlets reported . It was not immediately clear whether they have an attorney who could speak on their behalf.
A pest control worker discovered the break-in April 14 at the estate about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
A small kitchen fire did mostly smoke damage, Nungesser told WDSU-TV.
Thousands of dollars worth of stolen sports memorabilia included framed jerseys signed by Drew Brees and Pete Rose, Nungesser told reporters.
He told the newspaper some stolen political memorabilia came from his career, and some had been collected by his father, William “Billy” Nungesser, who headed the state’s Republican Party for many years and is in the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame.
“My dad had a chest full of things,” he said. “Looks like they got about half of it.”
Nungesser said the burglars also took “lots of liquor.”
“They left the parish with a stolen dump truck, followed by a Jeep and some of the stuff from the home was in the dump truck when it was recovered,” Nungesser told WWL-TV. “They ditched the dump truck when they were on the run.”
The truck was found in Pearl River County in Mississippi.
Nungesser and his wife now live in Covington, Louisiana and are trying to sell the 65-acre (26-hectare) property along the Mississippi River south of Jesuit Bend. Hurricane Ida did heavy damage to the 9,000-square-foot (836-square-meter) house, which Nungesser said is 25 to 30 years old.
Assessors records show the couple bought the property for $369,900 in 1997, the newspaper reported.
The Nungessers were removing remaining items to their new house when the burglary occurred.
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https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Louisiana-Lt-Gov-s-house-looted-burned-2-held-17117160.php
| 2022-04-21T18:12:54Z
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DETROIT (AP) — Thirteen sexual assault victims of Larry Nassarare seeking $10 million each from the FBI, claiming a bungled investigation by agents led to more abuse by the sports doctor, lawyers said Thursday.
It’s an effort to make the government responsible for assaults that occurred after July 2015. The Justice Department’s inspector general concluded last year that the FBI made fundamental errors when it became aware of allegations against Nassar that year.
Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor as well as a doctor at USA Gymnastics. He is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts.
“This was not a case involving fake 20 dollar bills or tax cheats,” attorney Jamie White said. “These were allegations of a serial rapist who was known to the FBI as the Olympic U.S. doctor with unfettered access to young women.”
Nassar, he added, continued a “reign of terror for 17 unnecessary months.”
An email seeking comment was sent to the FBI.
White is not suing the FBI yet. Under federal law, tort claimsmust be a filed with a government agency, which then has six months to reply. A lawsuit could follow, depending on the FBI’s response.
“No one should have been assaulted after the summer of 2015 because the FBI should have done its job,” said Grace French, founder of a group called The Army of Survivors. “To know that the FBI could have helped to avoid this trauma disgusts me.”
White noted the 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The FBI received a tip about five weeks before 17 people were killed at the school, but the tip was never forwarded to the FBI’s South Florida office. The government agreed to pay $127.5 million to families of those killed or injured.
In the Nassar case, Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics told local FBI agents in 2015 that three gymnasts said they were assaulted by Nassar. But the FBI did not open a formal investigation or inform federal or state authorities in Michigan, according to the inspector general’s report.
Los Angeles FBI agents in 2016 began a sexual tourism investigation against Nassar and interviewed several victims but also didn’t alert Michigan authorities, the inspector general said.
White said more than 100 women were assaulted after July 2015, and he expects other lawyers will file claims against the FBI. Nassar wasn’t arrested until November 2016 during an investigation by Michigan State University police.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has said he’s “deeply and profoundly sorry” for delays in Nassar’s prosecution and the pain it caused.
The Michigan attorney general’s office ultimately handled the assault charges, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed a child pornography case against Nassar.
Michigan State University agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement.
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For more stories on Larry Nassar and the fallout from his years of sexual abusing young women and girls: https://www.apnews.com/LarryNassar
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| 2022-04-21T18:13:20Z
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The Florida House of Representatives has given final passage to a bill to dissolve a private government that Walt Disney World has been allowed to operate on its properties for more than five decades.
House lawmakers approved the measure on Thursday. The passage is a victory for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. He has lashed back at the entertainment giant after it publicly declared its opposition to a new law backed by the governor that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
In response to the law, Disney suspended its political donations in the state after LGBTQ advocates who work for the company criticized CEO Bob Chapek for what they said was his slow response speaking out against it.
The Disney bill would eliminate the self-governed districts by June 2023. But it does allow the districts to be reestablished in the future, leaving the door open for further negotiations.
Before Disney World opened its gates, Walt Disney proposed to state lawmakers the theme park should have governing authority over the land. Months after his death, the state granted the company the establishment of the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967.
If it's repealed, Disney's central Florida land would fall under Orange and Osceola counties, since it stretches into both.
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| 2022-04-21T18:14:28Z
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WFO SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, April 21, 2022
_____
WIND ADVISORY
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Hanford CA
1019 AM PDT Thu Apr 21 2022
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING...
* WHAT...Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph
expected.
* WHERE...Indian Wells Valley, Mojave Desert Slopes and Mojave
Desert.
* WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 8 PM PDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects.
Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may
result. Blowing dust will reduce visibilities in some
locations. Travel will be difficult, particularly for high
profile vehicles.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Highways affected include, but are not
limited to Highway 14, U.S. Highway 395, Highway 58 through
and below Tehachapi Pass, including the town of Mojave, and
Highway 178 through and below Walker Pass, including the town
of Inyokern.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high
profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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| 2022-04-21T18:15:43Z
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https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/eu-agrees-to-piggyback-on-future-uk-approval-of-vertical-aerospace-1.4858440
| 2022-04-21T18:18:12Z
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Gubernatorial candidate Ashley Kalus embroiled in dispute involving Westerly police, DOH
PROVIDENCE — In mid-January, Westerly police were called in to try to quell a heated contract dispute between the Rhode Island Department of Health and now Republican candidate for governor Ashley Kalus and her husband, plastic surgeon Jeffrey Weinzweig.
The police were also asked to help recover missing items allegedly tied to the dispute.
The confrontation took place Jan.16 at a Westerly testing site after the health department cut short by two weeks a COVID-19 testing contract with a company, Doctors Testing Center, which is run by Kalus and her husbandand awarded it to another company.
Days later, Kalus registered to vote in Rhode Island for the first time and subsequently announced her Republican candidacy for governor.
In a response to the Journal, Kalus said: "I'm proud of the work the employees of DTC accomplished during the course of COVID to make Rhode Island the most vaccinated state in the country.
"My only concern was for the safety of the hundreds of thousands of patients we treated. While our contract ended on Jan. 31st,'' she said in an email to the Journal.
In the email, she added her company "obliged'' the Department of Health, by terminating its operations two weeks early "even though the new vendor did not have the proper qualifications to manage the site."
Health Department spokesman Joseph Wendelken responded: "Every entity that the State has worked with to do testing has been appropriately credentialed."
More:'Outsider' Ashley Kalus launches GOP campaign for RI governor
More:GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ashley Kalus launches first TV ads
Earlier this week, the Health Department declined to answer Journal questions about the Jan. 16 incident, which took place at a testing center in the community room of the Westerly police department, and why the department cut the contract short.
The Health Department only said, "Our contract with Doctors Test Centers ended in January, 2022. When that contract ended, we made the decision to transition to other testing vendors.
"All of the operational decisions we make about our COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites are guided by a commitment to ensuring that Rhode Islanders have optimal healthcare and customer service experiences at those sites."
On Thursday, Health Department spokesman Joseph Wendelken said the contract was not actually cut two weeks short, but rather the new company needed time to transition.
The police report details allegations of theft, heated emails and threats of prosecuting criminal trespass
Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella provided The Journal with the detailed police report he wrote in his then role as a police lieutenant, before his elevation to chief.
In it, he said he was advised by then Chief Shawn Lacey "that the RI DOH Covid-19 testing site at the station was going to be transitioning management and there may be an issue between the current management, Doctors Testing Company (DTC), RI Dept. of Health and the new management MedTech."
"In summary RIDOH has advised DTC that they are no longer going to be using their services in the COVID testing centers statewide and they would be transitioning them out.
"DTC feels that RIDOH can't do that and is not leaving the testing sites. This tense email conversation can be found in the first email from 01/13/21, in the email chain," he wrote.
Gingeralla attached a series of emails to and from Nicholas Toscano-McDonald, the Chief Operating Officer of Doctors Testing Centers (DTC), Kristine Campagna, the Chief Operating Officer for COVID operations at RIDOH, Weinzweig and Kalus.
In one, Toscano-McDonald wrote Campagna,"DTC leadership has decided that we will maintain control of our remaining sites until the end of our contract, January 31st... and we will be continuing to take patients until the final day of the contract."
Kalus and Weinsweig were cc'ed on the e-mail.
Campagna advised them that the Department of Health is "going forward with transitioning DTC out of the State testing site."
A response email from Kalus "begins in a professional manner...then changes course and personally attacks and threatens Campagna (RIDOH) and threatens her with litigation," Gingerella wrote.
Kalus' email references an allegation "that for your son you made him take state property in the form of test kits to give to you to use personally and privately for your family.
"I have some other concerns about your behavior that was confided in me that makes me uncomfortable with you as our contract manager. Every time I have reported noncompliance or quality concerns, you have retaliated and defamed me," Kalus wrote.
"This is a federal contract and what you have done to me is simply not legal. Whistle blowers do have protection when bringing up issues of waste, fraud, and abuse.
"I would suggest that you not erase your phone in preparation for litigation as you should have been told months ago as we complained. I’ll consult with legal to see if mediation allows limited discovery of your text messages."
In her reply, Campagna "clearly tells them that if they don’t leave the property that RIDOH inhabits as a contractual license holders they may have to seek other means such as possibly pursuing criminal trespassing charges."
The police report details what happened next between January 15 and 16
It says Gingerella went into the community room and "put all of DTC labeled items in a pile right next to all of their PPE items" to separate them from the items that clearly belonged to MedTech "as they had MedTech paperwork" next to them, and photographed the scene.
At 9 a.m. on Jan. 16, Gingerella said he received a phone call from the Chief asking him "where all the supplies from MedTech are."
He said a MedTech staffer told him "DTC took their computers, printers and all their testing supplies." He said he called Toscano-McDonald for an explanation. "I received several excuses like he didn’t know what was his and he thought they were his.
"I told him that he has property that does not belong to him specifically MedTech’s computers and the DOH testing supplies. I advised him that this property needs to come back now, or he could be subject to arrest. He said that he would be back in two hours."
About 20 minutes later, Gingerella said he received a phone call from "Doctors Testing Centers," and spoke with two people he believed to be Kalus and Weinzweig who" tried to give me every excuse why it was not Toscano-McDonald's fault that he took stuff that wasn't his."
He said he told them he had no interest in their contract dispute with RIDOH, "I just want the items back that were taken."
Gingerella described the conversation this way: "DTC owners both constantly talked over me and continued to ask me for a list of what was taken and who even called the police.
"I don’t recall how exactly the conversation ended as I must have said numerous times just get the items back and their response would be that MedTech Shouldn’t have brought stuff in."
"The 20-minute conversation went nowhere and ended. "
He said he subsequently got a call from a Thomas Conley, who identified himself as a lawyer and asked if the police intended to "know if his client was being arrested if he came to the station and returned the items." Gingerella said he replied: "if the items were not returned, he could be and would be arrested."
"Conley then asked me why I was even at the testing site, and I responded to him that the site is inside of the police station. He said something like he did not know that and that changes things."
"The items that were taken that belonged to MedTech were returned by Toscano-McDonald," except what he described as an "adapting unit."
The contract dispute was first reported by WPRI.
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https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/21/ashley-kalus-ri-governor-candidate-westerly-police-covid-testing-contract-health-department/7393865001/
| 2022-04-21T18:23:03Z
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Tension is high between Pakistan and Afghanistan after Pakistan's military air raids into Afghanistan killed 47 civilians over the weekend. During the past few months, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an armed militant group, increased attacks on Pakistan security forces from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
Afghan officials said the death toll had risen to 47 following Pakistan military strikes in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Kunar and Khost. The casualties include mostly women and children.
Taliban officials in Kabul and Islamabad are struggling to resolve the cross-border attacks, and have warned Islamabad after the death of civilians in the predawn assault.
Last year, Pakistan's government involved the Taliban in negotiating a peace agreement with the TTP, but that failed just after a monthlong truce between Islamabad and the TTP. The Taliban, meanwhile, have not made significant efforts to help Islamabad break a deal with the TTP to stop them from attacking Pakistan.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombardment and attack that has taken place from the Pakistan side on the soil of Afghanistan," government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told journalists in an audio message.
'Paving the way for enmity'
"This is cruelty, and it is paving the way for enmity between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are using all options to prevent repetitions of such attacks and calling for our sovereignty to be respected," Mujahid said.
"Any retaliatory attack from the air, as experienced last week, need not target innocent civilians, whether locals or refugees. Such incidents will not only kill trust but will also lead to more militancy," Omar Samad, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada, told DW.
After the incident, hundreds of civilians in Khost took to the streets and chanted anti-Pakistan slogans.
"Pakistan is learning the hard way that their hard-line ideology means more to the Taliban than gratitude for years of support and acquiescence from Pakistan," Husain Haqqani, the director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute and former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, told DW.
The Taliban summoned Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul on Saturday and registered their protest against the military airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Afghan officials claimed that most of the civilians were killed when a Pakistani jet entered inside Afghanistan. Pakistan denied the claim of carrying out airstrikes.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) showed concern about the civilian deaths.
"UNAMA is deeply concerned by reports of civilian casualties, including women and children, as a result of airstrikes in Khost & Kunar provinces," the mission wrote on Twitter, adding that officials were working to establish the facts and verify losses.
Cross-border attacks
An increasing number of attacks on Pakistan's army from the TTP are being carried out over the border. Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in an ambush by the militant group near the Afghan border on Thursday.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday: "In the last few days, incidents along the Pak-Afghan border have significantly increased, wherein, Pakistani security forces are being targeted from across the border." It added that the attacks were being carried out "with impunity" and that Islamabad had repeatedly asked Afghan authorities to act to stop them, to no avail.
The soldiers were killed in North Waziristan, which borders Khost, where the airstrikes are reported to have taken place. Pakistan's military on Thursday said that 128 armed militants had been killed near the border area with Afghanistan since January. Meanwhile, they claimed that 100 soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period.
"Although Pakistan wants cooperative relations with Kabul, ties may become testy in the future. This is because of Islamabad's rising concern over the surge of cross-border terror attacks since the Taliban assumed power. Hopes that a Taliban government would help Pakistan secure its western border have not materialized. TTP Pakistan continues to be based in Afghanistan and conduct attacks from there," Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's former ambassador to the UN, US and UK, told DW.
"Afghanistan went through an agonizing regime collapse and change in eight months, while Pakistan experienced a political turnover a few days ago. It will take a bit of time for both sides to recalibrate and reset policies impacting bilateral relations that are influenced by regional and great power rivalries. Both Kabul and Islamabad have options to escalate or defuse tensions. A mix of internal and external factors will determine the new path," said Samad.
"The Taliban need Pakistan and will try to find a way of balancing their need for good relations against their ideological affinity with the TTP. Pakistan seems willing to use force against the TTP inside Afghanistan if the Taliban cannot deliver a deal between them and Pakistan's government," Husain said.
What are the reasons behind the strained ties?
Analysts believe there are multiple historic reasons and disputes that lead to strained ties and border clashes between the two countries.
"Contrary to biased predictions, cross-border attacks have not stopped or been brought under control. Part is provoked by tribal reactions to border management policies to block passage. Others have to do with security risks and militancy challenges in the form of groups such as the TTP or groups crossing into Afghanistan. The third reason has to do with control of smuggling and illegal activities benefiting a variety of actors," Samad told DW.
Lodhi said: "The border fencing issue is another source of unsettled discord. Strong words were exchanged between officials of the two countries, with Pakistan's Foreign Ministry warning Kabul against harboring terrorists for using Afghan soil with impunity to carry out activities inside Pakistan."
Haqqani said: "Pakistan will continue to suffer blowback from its policy of supporting extremists in Afghanistan."
"Pakistan and Afghanistan need to figure out how to live as neighbors, without either side supporting armed groups operating on each other's soil. That might not be easy under the Taliban," Haqqani said.
"Both sides need to do more without stepping on each other's toes," Samad said. "The fact that the Taliban have squandered several opportunities to build consensus and an inclusive government thus far, and that Pakistan may have overplayed its hand with unrealistic expectations, means that there is a need for recalibration and renewed engagement to seek a constructive middle ground."
Edited by: Leah Carter
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| 2022-04-21T18:27:05Z
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BJP chief writes to KCR
All-party meeting sought to discuss issues concerning ryots
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao should immediately call for an all-party meeting, besides a meeting with farmers associations, to discuss the ways to mitigate the woes of the farming community, urged Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Thursday.
In an open letter to Mr .Rao, the BJP leader stated that during his ongoing second stage of the ‘Praja Sangrama Yatra’, many farmers had complained about the delay in waiver of the loans and tenant farmers rued the lack of any government scheme for them.
The TRS had offered to waive loans to the extent of one lakh rupees for all farmers in the last elections but so far the government had issued just ₹1.44.38 crore, benefitting 5.66 lakh farmers, while another 31 lakh are waiting to get the same benefit, he said.
The Karimnagar MP explained that the government needs to allocate ₹19,198.38 crore for 36.68 farmers for those seeking loans waiver to the extent of less than ₹25,000, up to ₹50,000, up to ₹75,000, up to ₹1 lakh. “There are about 2 lakh farmers seeking loan waivers of less than ₹50,000 each but the bills amounting to ₹857 crore is pending with the Finance Department, throwing the farmers into a disarray,” he said.
Hence, the Chief Minister should instruct the officials concerned to release funds expeditiously and extend the loan waiver scheme for those awaiting the benefit, he said and charged that due to non-payment of loans, the banks concerned are taking over the welfare scheme payments.
Mr. Sanjay Kumar said it is “shameful” that the tenant farmers, most of whom are small and medium ones, estimated to be 14 lakh in number across the State, are ignored. It is necessary to bring changes in the law or bring new laws to come to their aid, he observed. “We are bringing these issues to your notice as a responsible opposition party so that action can be taken expeditiously,” he added, in the letter.
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| 2022-04-21T18:28:36Z
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CNN's streaming service shutting down a month after launch
CNN's brand-new streaming service, CNN+, is shutting down only a month after launch.
In a Thursday memo, incoming CNN chief executive Chris Licht said the service would shut down at the end of April.
CNN+ launched when its parent was still part of AT&T. It combined with Discovery earlier this month in a new company, Warner Bros. Discovery, under Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who had his own vision for CNN and its Warner siblings.
In his memo, Licht said consumers wanted "simplicity and an all-in service" rather than "stand-alone offerings." Discovery had previously suggested that it wanted to merge the new company's separate streaming services, which include Discovery+ and HBO Max, into a single app.
Licht said some CNN+ content will wind up on other company networks, and the streaming service's employees will get opportunities to apply for jobs elsewhere inside Warner Bros. Discovery. The head of CNN+, Andrew Morse, is leaving the company.
"While today's decision is incredibly difficult, it is the right one for the long-term success of CNN. It allows us to refocus resources on the core products that drive our singular focus: further enhancing CNN's journalism and its reputation as a global news leader," Licht wrote.
Under AT&T, there were $100 million in development costs and some 500 employees assigned to building out CNN+. The service had attracted big names for its lineup, from former Fox anchor Chris Wallace to food-media star Alison Roman, as part of the company's effort to appeal to younger people with a streaming news service as cable news audiences age.
There had been skepticism that a paid news streaming service would attract interest from consumers, who already have available a slew of online TV. While Fox has a paid streaming service, Fox Nation, and other major TV news organizations make their apps available free.
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| 2022-04-21T18:43:04Z
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Take a look at the beta version of dw.com. We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better.
Bangladesh has resumed the trial in the collapse of a garment factory building that killed more than 1,100 people in 2013. While safety rules have improved in the textil sector, workers' rights are still an issue.
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https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-textil-sector-getting-safer/av-61542369
| 2022-04-21T18:44:21Z
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Angry neighbor fired multiple shots into daycare, owner says
MILWAUKEE (WISN) - Seven children are safe after bullets whizzed through a Milwaukee home-based daycare. The daycare owner blames a neighbor angry at parking issues for the gunshots.
Bullet holes can still be seen inside and out at Little Warriors Child Care in Milwaukee after shots were fired April 12 at the building. Daycare owner Andjeia Harris put the kids in a bathtub for protection until police arrived.
“The daycare was shot into several times, and all I could do was just get all my kids and bring them down and protect them with, you know, trying to use my parenting skills,” Harris said.
She is currently operating from a temporary location.
Harris blames the shooting on a neighbor, angry about what they saw as parking issues caused by her new business.
“Bullets went right over my head. I felt the glass shatter on my back. It felt like melting glass. It felt like it melted through my back, as I’m like shielding down, trying to protect. I had a 1-year-old in a high chair. I had a 4-month-old still in her carrier seat,” she said.
That baby’s father, James Cooper, can barely comprehend bullets whistling through the daycare.
“I don’t know why people are like that. It’s just the way people are,” he said. “That honestly hurt my heart because I could have lost my little girl, and she’s like my everything.”
Harris says she was just getting her fledging business off the ground at that location. Now, she won’t be returning, if she reopens at all.
“I could have lost my life. Any of my children could have lost their life. Bullets don’t have a name. Them bullets could have easily went through the wall and hit any of my children,” she said.
Police have arrested four men in relation to the incident, but so far, no charges have been filed.
Copyright 2022 WISN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/04/20/angry-neighbor-fired-multiple-shots-into-daycare-owner-says/
| 2022-04-21T18:56:12Z
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Hunter kills rare white turkey at national recreation area
Published: Apr. 19, 2022 at 8:21 PM CDT
GOLDEN POND, Ky. (Gray News) - A hunter was able to capture an extremely rare turkey last week, officials are calling it a “turkey of a lifetime.”
The U.S. Forest Service shared a picture of the hunter, whose name was not released, with a white turkey at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky.
Officials said the bird had a condition called leucism which causes a partial loss of pigmentation, leading to the white-colored feathers.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T18:57:52Z
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How senior Tories’ frantic efforts failed to block Boris Johnson inquiry
Analysis: Ministers thought they had pulled a rabbit out of the hat but the rebellion would not be contained
Lurking at the entrance to the House of Commons voting lobbies on Wednesday night, the government’s new chief whip stood clutching his phone, devising and rewriting a single sentence he hoped might save the prime minister the embarrassment of being investigated for allegedly misleading parliament.
Chris Heaton-Harris quietly grappled with the text of an amendment that aimed to derail a Labour motion to trigger an inquiry by the Commons privileges committee into whether Johnson lied about rule-breaking in Downing Street.
With a majority of 80, persuading Tory MPs to simply vote the motion down should not have been a hard task. But given the erosion of trust between the front and back benches after months of sleaze scandals, a frantic party management exercise got under way.
When the Labour motion had dropped earlier that day, senior Tories were surprised at the craftiness of it, because the investigation would not be triggered until Scotland Yard’s own inquiry had concluded, giving Conservative MPs little reason not to support it. “They’re clearly on the ball,” said one Tory MP.
Whips spent the afternoon hurrying between their offices and meetings with potentially problematic Conservative backbenchers who were considering supporting the motion. Heaton-Harris held personal sit-downs with the known rebels Mark Harper and Tom Tugendhat.
Meanwhile, gleeful opposition party campaign strategists were mocking up adverts that would be used to target those Tories who voted to save Johnson from further scrutiny. The Liberal Democrats had already put together a leaflet with a picture of Johnson that read: “He lied and broke the law … but our area’s Conservative MP has let him off the hook!”
As the afternoon wore on, Tory MPs began privately admitting they had run out of excuses for rejecting the investigation. They pressed for the prime minister to get on the front foot, avoid the inevitable and refer himself to the privileges committee. But they were stonewalled by No 10.
Normal lines of communication between the government and opposition whips office fell silent. “They went into bunker mode,” one insider observed.
MPs who sit on the privileges committee saw their inboxes balloon with emails from members of the public urging them to carry out a ruthless review of Johnson’s alleged lies in parliament.
With the government running out of options, Labour figures felt triumphant. Then, less than an hour until the deadline for submitting an amendment before Commons business ended for the day, ministers pulled their rabbit out of the hat. They tabled a proposal to delay the decision about launching an inquiry until after the publication of the final Partygate report by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, kicking the can even further down the road.
Tory MPs who had been preparing to back or abstain on Labour’s motion to help it pass were quietly impressed that the government had managed to come up with what appeared to be an impressive “off ramp”. When they left parliament’s bars on Wednesday evening, many felt ready – and glad – to vote for it.
But by the following morning, realisation had dawned on many Tory MPs that they would be seen by the public to be in effect supporting a wrecking amendment. Fearing a return to the cover-up claims that dogged the government for months over the Owen Paterson affair, MPs turned up the heat, and the number who threatened to rebel moved dangerously close to matching the number of the government’s majority.
The next shift in the government’s position was let slip by Johnson himself, speaking on his second visit of the day during a trip to India. “The House of Commons can do whatever it wants to do,” he said, all but confirming that the three-line whip would be switched to a free vote.
Heaton-Harris himself delivered the news to the minister in whose name the amendment was made, Mark Spencer, the leader of the Commons. After lobbying by the Conservative MP Charles Walker, Spencer confirmed the unthinkable – that the amendment the government had hung all its hopes on would fall by the wayside, and MPs would be allowed to vote with their conscience.
The revelation came during a relatively under-attended session of Commons business questions, and the shock reverberated slowly through the building. An MP said staff burst into their office to tell them the news.
Related: New inquiry into Boris Johnson could be the one that delivers the fatal blow
The blame game followed swiftly. Many Tories complained they had been consulted for their views on the Labour motion but not the government’s amendment, meaning party whips were deaf to the criticisms against it.
“It’s open mic night at the Dog and Duck and we’re looking for anyone with a shred of skill at party management,” an ex-cabinet minister smirked as they left the chamber.
Another MP quipped that ditching the amendment “demonstrated a lack of discipline within the party, which speaks volumes”.
The day ended – in the words of one Conservative MP – with a “huge anticlimax”. Some chose to stick around to watch the Labour motion pass. But most drifted wearily home early, ready to face the wrath of their constituents.
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https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/senior-tories-frantic-efforts-failed-184337781.html?src=rss
| 2022-04-21T19:00:13Z
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https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/senior-tories-frantic-efforts-failed-184337781.html?src=rss
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Elon Musk says he's secured money for his bid to take Twitter private and is considering making his pitch directly to shareholders.
Musk, who recently became the social media company's largest individual investor, told Twitter's board last week he wanted to buy the entire company but didn't say how he would pay for it.
Now, in a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire Tesla CEO said he's lined up $46.5 billion to fund his offer of $54.20 a share.
Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and several other banks have promised to lend $25.5 billion, backed in part by some of Musk's Tesla shares, according to the filing.
Musk, who is the richest person in the world, says he will cover the remaining $21 billion himself. Most of his wealth is tied up in Tesla and SpaceX, the rocket company he also runs.
Musk also said in his filing that Twitter has not formally responded to his unsolicited offer. He "is seeking to negotiate a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Twitter," the filing said, "and is prepared to begin such negotiations immediately."
Given the lack of response, the filing said, Musk is exploring whether to appeal directly to Twitter investors with a tender offer to buy their shares for $54.20 a piece. Musk has been cryptically hinting at this prospect, tweeting "Love Me Tender," the name of an Elvis Presley song, and apparently referencing F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is the Night.
Twitter released a statement on Thursday saying the board has received Musk's proposal and "is committed to conducting a careful, comprehensive and deliberate review to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders."
Twitter's board already has thrown hurdles in Musk's path. A day after he announced his offer, the board adopted a defensive measure known as a "poison pill" to fend off Musk and give directors more time to consider what to do.
Formally known as a shareholder rights plan, the poison pill would make it more difficult and expensive for Musk, who owns 9% of Twitter, or anyone else to increase their stake to 15% or more. It's designed to ward off hostile moves like making a tender offer directly to shareholders.
But if enough investors find Musk's bid attractive, they could pressure the board to get rid of the poison pill and negotiate with the billionaire.
Musk has said he believes he can "unlock" Twitter's potential by taking the company private and loosening its rules on what users are allowed to post.
Twitter shares were little changed on Thursday. The stock is trading well below Musk's offer price, suggesting shareholders are skeptical about the deal.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-21/elon-musk-says-he-has-secured-the-money-to-buy-twitter
| 2022-04-21T19:06:34Z
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https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-21/elon-musk-says-he-has-secured-the-money-to-buy-twitter
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Lisa Wells looked out the window of her home office and saw a plume of smoke. Before long, the smoke blackened, the wind intensified and entire trees were consumed by flames.
In what felt like seconds, her family moved Tuesday from a get-ready-to-go status to go now. She managed to gather important medication and move their horses, alpacas and dogs to safety.
The home they bought 15 years ago on the outskirts of Flagstaff didn’t survive. Fierce winds picked up embers that hopscotched across neighborhoods, destroying some homes and leaving others unscathed.
“It was a miracle that people got out because we had so little time,” Wells said Wednesday, standing in a parking lot that has become a gathering spot for the evacuated communities.
Neither officials nor residents have been able to fully survey the damage, partly because the forecast has even stronger winds in store that experts say could lead to more explosive fire growth.
And the risk isn’t limited to Arizona. The 32-square-mile (83-square kilometer) blaze outside Flagstaff is one of a half-dozen major wildfires that have raced across Arizona and New Mexico the last few days.
Red flag warnings of critical fire conditions were issued Thursday for much of northern Arizona, including the Flagstaff area, and large portions of New Mexico as state and federal officials scrambled to get more crews on the front lines.
With expected wind conditions, “it will prove challenging to put in those containment lines to stop fire growth,” said Jerolyn Byrne, a spokesperson for the team working the Flagstaff-area fire. “We’ll see some growth on the fire.”
At a community meeting in Flagstaff on Wednesday evening, Brian Klimowski of the National Weather Service declared the start of the fire season and said “it’s going to be a long one this year.”
Hundreds of people have been evacuated because of wildfires burning in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Popular lakes and national monuments have been closed — some because fire has moved directly over them.
U.S. 89, the main route between Flagstaff and far northern Arizona, and communities on the Navajo Nation, remained closed.
Resources to fight the wildfires are tight. Four of the 16 top-level national fire management teams are dedicated to the Southwest — something fire information officer Dick Fleishman said is rare for April.
In Flagstaff, erratic winds have grounded air resources.
Residents around Flagstaff questioned how a small blaze reported northeast of the college town Sunday afternoon ballooned to more than 30 square miles (77 square kilometers) by Wednesday afternoon. Matt McGrath, a district ranger on the Coconino National Forest, said firefighters had corralled the wildfire Sunday and didn’t see any smoke or active flames when they checked on it again Monday.
By Tuesday, the wind was firmly in control. Flames emerged and jumped the containment line, leaving firefighters and McGrath to ask themselves if they could have done something differently, he said.
“I can’t tell you for sure, but I don’t think so,” McGrath said. “And I know that’s not a satisfying answer when people are going through what they’re going through right now.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Another fire in northern New Mexico also has burned more than 30 square miles (77 square kilometers), but it’s in a rural area where no structures have been destroyed and a small number of evacuations ordered.
The fire danger also remained high in southern Colorado, where a wildfire destroyed an unknown number of homes on Wednesday in Monte Vista, a community of about 4,150 people surrounded by farm fields. Despite strong winds, firefighters stopped the fire from spreading by the evening but hot spots remained.
The number of acres burned in the U.S. so far this year is about 30% above the 10-year average, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation have combined with spring winds to elevate the chances for more catastrophic fires.
The fire season has become year-round given changing conditions that include earlier snowmelt and rain coming later in the fall, scientist have said. The problems are exacerbated by decades of fire suppression and poor forest management along with a more than 20-year Western megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change.
Rocky Opliger, the incident commander on a wildfire that has burned about 3 square miles (7 square kilometers) and forced evacuations south of Prescott, Arizona, said the conditions are some of the worst he’s seen in nearly five decades of fighting wildland fires.
“This is very early to have this kind of fire behavior,” he said. “Right now we are on the whims of weather.”
About 25 structures have been lost in the Flagstaff-area fire. Coconino County officials late Wednesday pointed residents to a system where they could seek help with food, temporary housing and other needs. Some 765 homes were evacuated.
Wells described her home as unique and quirky, with horizontal studs held together by tongue-and-groove boards. Her husband, Bill, had been remodeling it little by little.
The wildfire reduced it to ashes and also destroyed a barn, although it spared a guest house where her daughter’s family lived on the same property.
The only thing they’ve been able to recover from the ashes was a gray porcelain dove that Bill Wells gave his wife as a gift. It was part of a set of collectibles.
“It was the only thing we found so far, but it means a lot, and we will keep it,” said Lisa Wells, holding the item.
She thought, too, about the decades of photographs she left behind and the baby grand piano that was built in 1890 that her grandmother, who was an opera singer, gave her. Those are gone, too.
“It’s just stuff, you realize it’s all just stuff and what’s important is your family,” she said, holding her blue heeler, Bandit, on a leash. “We think day to day, we know it will all work out.”
____
Associated Press writers Paul Davenport in Phoenix, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.
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https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/forecasters-strong-wind-could-lead-to-explosive-fire-growth/
| 2022-04-21T19:09:19Z
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https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/forecasters-strong-wind-could-lead-to-explosive-fire-growth/
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20th July 2017
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Isabel Maria Oliv...
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I am a portuguese biologist and a traveling lover. I also love to photograph but i am still in the learning process. I do it...
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https://365project.org/belucha/365/2017-07-20
| 2022-04-21T19:09:55Z
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https://365project.org/belucha/365/2017-07-20
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A cascade of boos rained down on Kyle Busch following his surprise win at Bristol Motor Speedway, a moment that reminded him of the icy reception the late Dale Earnhardt received after a controversial 1999 win at the track.
But this wasn't even close to that. Earnhardt wrecked leader Terry Labonte out of his way and shrugged it off: “I didn't mean to turn him around, I meant to rattle his cage.”
Busch had done nothing of the sort. He was comfortably in third on the final lap of Sunday night's race at dirt-covered track. It was Chase Briscoe who spun into leader Tyler Reddick, and all Busch did was slip through the smoke for the 60th victory of his Cup Series career.
With the checkered flag in his hand, Busch laughed at the crowd reaction: “I mean, man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn’t do anything."
What the crowd didn't realize is that Busch's ninth career Cup win at Bristol had just earned him a spot in NASCAR's record books. The victory tied Busch with Hall of Famer Richard Petty with at least one win in 18 consecutive seasons.
“To me, it’s a long time, 18 years," he said. “The biggest thing to me is just having that opportunity and being thankful for my chances with Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Busch thanked longtime sponsors M&M's and Interstate Batteries, as well as the leadership at JGR beginning with Hall of Fame team owner Joe Gibbs for "having my back over this long a time, keeping me in the seat.”
Busch ranks ninth on the all-time wins list, but the Bristol win moved him 17 victories away from the Earnhardt, the late seven-time champion and member of the first NASCAR Hall of Fame class alongside Petty. Kevin Harvick, with 58 career Cup victories, is closest to Busch among active drivers; Busch, a two-time Cup champion, is the only active driver with multiple titles.
His journey started first with Jack Roush, who had older brother Kurt Busch under contract, and Kurt swore the driver seven years his junior was going to be better than him. Roush gave Kyle Busch some Truck Series starts when he was 16, but by the time he turned 18 and was approved to race at higher levels, he'd been snagged by Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch won with Hendrick but he was immature and, like his big brother, rather temperamental. He lasted just three seasons before Rick Hendrick cut him loose to sign Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Gibbs grabbed the 22-year-old ahead of the 2008 season and Busch has undoubtedly put together a Hall of Fame career. He has 325 victories across NASCAR's three national series and “retired” from Xfinity Series racing at the end of last season when he crossed the 100-win threshold with 102.
He still races the five Truck Series events NASCAR permits for his Kyle Busch Motorsports team, though he is winless through his first three starts this season.
Now 36 and awaiting the birth of his second child — Busch and wife, Samantha, have publicly struggled with infertility and are expecting their first daughter via a surrogate — Busch's focus is on winning more Cup titles.
He knows he backed into the Bristol win, his first in a season that has six top-10 finishes through nine races. He doesn't believe the No. 18 Toyota team is where it needs to be to contend for the title just yet.
“We got a lot of work to do to win more races and be in contention each and every week,” Busch said. “I feel like I’m in the prime of my career and I would love to be running up front and dominating and winning races and contending for championships. That’s our ultimate goal.”
Next up is Talladega Superspeedway, where Busch has just one victory, in 2008. He's not counting on past experience in what should be a hectic race with NASCAR's new Next Gen racecar.
“It’s such a crapshoot there in the last 20, 30 or 40 laps that you never really know who is going to win, what’s going to happen, and where the wreck is going to come from,” Busch said. “You’ve just got to do what you can in order to let these races kind of fall into place, and sometimes it’s just worth taking the finish that’s coming to you and moving on and going to the next one.”
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Kyle-Busch-steadily-cementing-a-Hall-of-Fame-17117207.php
| 2022-04-21T19:16:47Z
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Mike Tyson appears to have punched a passenger on a plane, with a video seeming to show him raining down blows on a man.
Video obtained by TMZ appears to show a passenger annoying the champion boxer by continually talking to him.
The incident reportedly occurred at San Francisco International Airport at 5:30pm on Thursday (NZT) on a flight that was preparing to leave for Florida.
A witness, who is the victim's friend, told TMZ that Tyson was initially cordial and took a selfie with them, but when his friend didn't heed Tyson's warning to stop bothering him, the former world heavyweight champion allegedly lashed out physically.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Video from on board the plane shows Tyson throwing punches at a man over his seat.
A second clip shows the man with blood on his head.
Tyson is said to have got off the plane moments later.
He is yet to comment.
Tyson was one of the best fighters of all time and won 50 of his 58 fights, reigning as undisputed heavyweight champion of the world from 1987 to 1990.
His life has been mired in controversy, and Tyson was jailed in 1992 for rape.
He regained a heavyweight title following his release after three years, but found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons again when he bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear during a title fight.
He would later admit to having a cocaine addiction after being caught driving on drugs.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/boxing-mike-tyson-punches-plane-passenger-after-being-harrased/QDXSFV6XWPBAZXZRMWGACOKN2U/?c_id=4&objectid=12519410
| 2022-04-21T19:17:41Z
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/boxing-mike-tyson-punches-plane-passenger-after-being-harrased/QDXSFV6XWPBAZXZRMWGACOKN2U/?c_id=4&objectid=12519410
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the Missouri Lottery's "Pick 3 Midday" game were:
6-8-0
(six, eight, zero)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the Missouri Lottery's "Pick 3 Midday" game were:
6-8-0
(six, eight, zero)
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https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-3-Midday-game-17117293.php
| 2022-04-21T19:17:47Z
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https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-3-Midday-game-17117293.php
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Toddler abandoned at the border in the middle of the night, loses shoes in the mud
ROMA, Texas (Gray News) – A 2-year-old boy was abandoned near the Rio Grande border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The little boy lost his shoes in the mud while crossing and was traveling within a group of 38 individuals.
Authorities say the toddler was medically screened and was in good health.
Agents found a birth certificate on the boy with the father’s information handwritten on the back.
According to CBP, agents have encountered over 38,000 noncitizen unaccompanied children in the first six months of the fiscal year 2022, outpacing encounters for the same reporting period last year.
Many of the children are very young and aren’t able to provide names or phone numbers of family members, so agents must rely on information written on clothing or notes found on the child to locate next of kin.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/21/toddler-abandoned-border-middle-night-loses-shoes-mud/
| 2022-04-21T19:19:07Z
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/21/toddler-abandoned-border-middle-night-loses-shoes-mud/
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WATCH: SUV trapped on sandbank for three days becomes big weekend attraction
BAR HARBOR, Maine (WABI/Gray News) - An SUV was stuck for three days on a sandbar in Maine after someone drove it out at low tide and it became stuck.
Multiple attempts to tow the vehicle trapped between Bar Harbor and Bar Island proved unsuccessful.
It sat on flotation devices until another attempt to tow it out came at low tide Monday, WABI reported.
“We came down to see if we could maybe walk across to Bar Island and get an understanding of the tides and all that. We came down and saw a party started,” Delaware resident Thomas Cooper said.
For those who do this kind of thing for a living, trying to get this 2021 Ford Bronco to shore hasn’t been like the others.
“Never had to float one before. Usually we can get them out without floating, but this is very unique, and it’s going to sit there until low tide,” Island Towing owner Lester Foss said.
But that’s not the only thing that made this one different. For a place that will see millions of visitors this summer, this was one of Acadia National Park’s biggest attractions over the weekend.
“This is one of the very biggest ones I’ve seen. Yesterday, there was probably 200 people were lined up on the beach over here,” Foss said.
By the time Monday rolled around, it even had its own soundtrack.
“The music was different. Definitely different,” Foss said.
This is certainly not the first time a vehicle has needed to be rescued between Bar Harbor and Bar Island. It actually happens every year, but it doesn’t usually take three days for a vehicle to be rescued. It also doesn’t usually turn into this kind of party.
Greg Canders with Canders Diving Services said he has never had music played before.
“The Beach Boys are playing, and I wanted to start dancing on the way in,” he said. “I thought that was really cool. It’s a beautiful day. It’s springtime. Everybody’s happy to be outside, so it just added to everybody’s success here today. It was great to see everybody out.”
Gary Allen made himself the “Bronco Rescue” music director.
“Life is pretty serious a lot, and smiling and laughing is way better than crying,” Allen said. “I think that you don’t want to make fun of other people’s misfortune; however, don’t drive where you shouldn’t be, and then this won’t happen.”
Officials said the Bronco was finally pulled to shore late Monday.
You can hear the entire playlist from the beach Monday morning by searching BH BRONCO RESCUE on Spotify.
Copyright 2022 WABI via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/21/watch-suv-trapped-sandbank-three-days-becomes-big-weekend-attraction/
| 2022-04-21T19:19:20Z
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/21/watch-suv-trapped-sandbank-three-days-becomes-big-weekend-attraction/
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With climate change, plastic pollution and a potential sixth mass extinction, humanity has made some incredible messes in the world.
But when people, political factions and nations have pulled together, they have also cleaned up some of those human-caused environmental problems, including healing the ozone hole, clearing perpetually smoggy air and saving many species from the brink of extinction.
“We can be good at cleaning up our messes, it’s whether or not we choose to be and what we prioritize,” said Michigan State University environmental sustainability researcher Sheril Kirshenbaum.
For Earth Day, The Associated Press asked more than 25 environmental scientists and policy experts, including two former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chiefs and the current director of the United Nations Environment Programme, to share their top stories about environmental problems that the world fixed.
“There are some amazing success stories,” said Stanford University environmental scientist Rob Jackson. “It’s easy for us to get tunnel vision with everything going wrong, and there is a lot that needs to change quickly. But it’s wonderful to remind ourselves that other people in the past have succeeded and that society has succeeded too, both nationally here in the U.S. and also internationally.”
Here are the four successes mentioned most often and a key aspect that so many ecological wins have in common.
HEALING THE OZONE HOLE
Fixing ozone depletion was by far the top choice of scientists, officials and environmental policy experts.
“It was a moment where countries that usually compete with each other grasped the collective threat and decided to implement a solution,” former EPA chief Carol Browner said in an email.
Scientists in the 1970s had discovered that a certain class of chemicals, often used in aerosol sprays and refrigeration, was eating away the protective ozone layer in Earth’s atmosphere that shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation linked to skin cancer.
The ozone layer was thinning everywhere, creating a hole over Antarctica, which not only threatened increased skin cancer cases, but cataracts and widespread changes to ecosystems around the globe, said University of North Carolina atmospheric scientist Jason West.
“It’s the first time we created a planet-killing problem and then we turned around and solved it,” Stanford’s Jackson said.
In 1987, the countries of the world signed the Montreal Protocol, a first of its kind treaty that banned the ozone-munching chemicals. At this point every nation in the world has adopted the treaty, 99% of the ozone-depleting chemicals have been phased out, “saving 2 million people every year from skin cancer,” United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen said in an email.
The ozone hole over Antarctica worsened for a couple decades, but over the last several years it has slowly started to heal in fits and spurts. The United Nations Environment Programme projects that the ozone “ will heal completely by the 2030s.”
While activists point to the Montreal Protocol as a hope and example for the fight against climate change, it’s not quite the same. In the case of the banned ozone-sapping chemicals the corporations that manufactured them also made their replacements. But with climate change “it’s more of an existential threat to the oil and gas companies,” Jackson said.
CLEANER AIR AND WATER
In the United States and much of the industrialized world, the air is much cleaner and clearer than it was 50 or 60 years ago when major cities like Los Angeles were choked with smog and even more dangerous microscopic particles in the air. And lakes and rivers were dumping grounds, especially around Ohio, Michigan and Canada.
“We would go to Lake Erie when I was young... and play on the beach and there would be dead fish everywhere. We would have dead fish fights,” Stanford’s Jackson said.
In the United States the Clean Air Act of 1970 and its follow up in 1990 with EPA regulations “effectively cleaned our air,” UNC’s West said. A similar law passed in the 1972 for water.
“This has led to fewer health conditions such as cancer and asthma, for example, and saved millions of lives and trillions of dollars in health care costs,” Syracuse University environmental sciences professor Sam Tuttle said. “That means healthier people, more productive fisheries and a healthier and more attractive environment for all of us to enjoy.”
Tight restrictions on tiny particles alone decreased annual U.S. air pollution deaths “from about 95,000 in 1990 to 48,000 in 2019,” West said.
In Los Angeles in 1955, smog levels peaked at 680 parts per billion. In the last couple years they hit 185 parts per billion but are usually much smaller.
It’s not just air outside. Former EPA chief William K. Reilly and University of Maryland environmental health scientist Sacoby Wilson said restricting indoor smoking had huge public health effects.
On the water, Brown University environmental scientist J. Timmons Roberts also grew up on Lake Erie and stopped going to the water because of the dead fish: “Regulations and cooperation between the U.S. and Canada really made the difference and now there’s genuine eco-tourism there and thousands of walleye and other fishers come out every summer.”
SOLAR AND WIND POWER
The steep fall in price of solar and wind power, which do not produce heat-trapping gases, has surprised experts and given them hope that the world can wean itself from coal, oil and natural gas that are causing global warming.
From 2010 to 2020, the price of residential solar power dropped 64% and the price of large-scale utility solar power generation dropped 82%, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab.
Solar “is becoming a dominant energy technology and it’s becoming cheaper,” Jackson said. “It is cheaper than almost all other forms of electricity generation.”
Few people thought solar and wind prices would drop so quickly just ten years ago, Jackson, Kirshenbaum and others said.
Experts credit renewable power subsidies to pull the world out of the 2008 Great Recession, especially in Germany and the United States.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
The bald eagle, American alligator, peregrine falcon, Canada geese and humpback whales are each environmental success stories.
All were once on the brink of extinction, put on the endangered species list for protection. Now they are all of the protected list and in some cases they are so abundant that people consider them a nuisance or they cause problems for other species.
“Conservation efforts are clawing some endangered species back from the brink,” Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm said. “We are learning to do this thing called conservation.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken 96 species off the endangered species list, 65 of them because they have recovered.
Experts credit regulations and laws across the world with restricting the killing and trading of endangered species and preventing destruction of crucial habitat for those critters and plants.
Another key change was the ban on the pesticide DDT, which reverberated through the food chain, causing thinning eggs for eagles, peregrine falcons and other birds of prey, Cornell University environmental biology professor Robert Howarth said.
COOPERATION
In the United States, many of these key successes were spurred by laws and actions taken by Republican administrations of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
“All these major milestones, including the creation of the EPA, were bipartisan, but unfortunately today we can’t seem to get that stuff done,” said Christie Todd Whitman, who was an EPA chief during a Republican presidency. “Sadly, Republicans don’t seem to care about these issues anymore — everything is so hyper partisan now that (the) GOP seem to be Neanderthals on the environment.”
Often when a Republican is president, the rest of the country moves left and becomes more friendly to environmental action, whereas they move right and become more environmentally complacent during Democratic administrations, said Kirshenbaum, a former congressional staffer and director of Science Debate. What's important is cooperation and buy-in to big issues from all sides, experts said.
The treaty to heal the ozone hole is the example for what working together can accomplish, Syracuse's Tuttle said: “This agreement proved that the international community could come together to create an enforceable framework to tackle an environmental problem of global significance.”
___
Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate
___
Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Cleaner-Earth-Healing-ozone-hole-less-smog-17117200.php
| 2022-04-21T19:19:26Z
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HENRICO, Va. (WRIC) — Henrico is recognizing a softball coach who guided the team at Douglas Freeman High School for over 20 years by naming the field his team played on in his honor.
William Butler served as the softball coach at the school from 1993 to 2016, and a dozen commenters wrote in to the board to express their appreciation for his years of service – and to praise his wife, Barbara Butler, who will share the marquee with him.
“I doubt he would have been the coach that he was without her support,” said Colleen Reid. “And I’m pretty sure he’d tell you the same thing!”
An umpire who worked alongside Butler for over 20 years said he put “his heart, soul and enthusiasm into all the young lives that he impacted as a softball coach.”
The field is not currently identified with any name on the high school’s website.
“I strongly agree with other community members that the new and improved softball field should be named after Mr. Bill Butler,” said Carleigh Branch, a softball player who graduated in 2012. “Coach Butler has done so much for the softball program over the course of many years and is so deserving of this recognition.”
The school board will vote on whether to adopt the new field name on Thursday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. Residents can attend the meeting to speak on the proposal at the New Bridge Learning Center Auditorium at 5915 Nine Mile Road.
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| 2022-04-21T19:21:03Z
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday gave final passage to a bill that would dissolve Walt Disney World’s private government, handing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory in his feud with the entertainment giant over its opposition to a measure that critics have dubbed the “ Don’t Say Gay ” law.
The move could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks have transformed Orlando into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, and serves to further sour the relationship between the Republican-led government and a major political player in the state. Disney did not return an email seeking comment Thursday.
For DeSantis, the attack on Disney is his latest salvo in a culture war waged over policies involving race, gender and the coronavirus, battles that have made him one of the most popular GOP politicians in the country and a likely 2024 presidential candidate.
The bill passed by the legislature on Thursday would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the 55-year-old Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure does allow for the districts to be reestablished, leaving an avenue to renegotiate its future. The bill now moves to DeSantis’ office to be signed into law.
The voting ended a bitter, three-day special legislative session in which lawmakers were tasked with passing a new congressional map drawn by DeSantis but also took up the Disney bill at the governor’s request. Tensions erupted Thursday as Democrats staged a sit-in protest on the House floor against the map, prompting Republicans to walk out briefly.
Opponents of the new map chanted phrases about the suppression of Black voters as GOP lawmakers returned and passed both bills
“It was clear that our requests and proposed solutions were not going to be heard so he rushed it through,” Democratic Rep. Fentrice Driskell said of the Disney measure.
The dispute with the company began with Disney’s criticism of a new law barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade as well as instruction that is not “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”
In March, Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state and added that it would in turn support organizations working to oppose the new law. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then lashed out at Disney, and have defended the law as reasonable.
“Disney and other woke corporations won’t get away with peddling their unchecked pressure campaigns any longer,” DeSantis wrote in a fundraising pitch Wednesday. “If we want to keep the Democrat machine and their corporate lapdogs accountable, we have to stand together now.”
Democrats have criticized the Disney proposal as clear retaliation against the company and warned that local homeowners could get hit with big tax bills if they have to absorb bond debt from Disney — although such details are far from clear.
Disneyis one of Florida’s biggest private employers, last year saying it had more than 60,000 workers in the state. It is not immediately clear how the company or local governments around its properties would be affected if the district was dissolved.
The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and the control it gave Disney over 27,000 acres (11,000 hectares) in Florida, was a crucial element in the company’s plans to build near Orlando in the 1960s. Company officials said they needed autonomy to plan a futuristic city along with the theme park. The city never materialized, however; instead, it morphed into the Epcot theme park.
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https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/florida-legislature-votes-to-strip-disney-self-government/
| 2022-04-21T19:25:51Z
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Which DeWalt leaf blower is best?
Lawn maintenance is one of the bigger downsides to owning a home. As the season changes and the leaves start to pile up, you have two choices: Rake them into piles and bag them, or blow them all away. If you choose the latter option, DeWalt can help you with several leaf blowers that are all good choices. Among their best leaf blowers is the DeWalt FlexVolt 60-Volt Max Leaf Blower. It includes a battery and charger, and it has an airflow capacity of 600 cubic feet per minute.
What to know before you buy a DeWalt leaf blower
Fuel source
Leaf blowers can be powered by a cord, a battery or gas.
- Corded DeWalt leaf blowers are the most powerful and the lightest, thanks to the lack of a heavy battery. You don’t need to worry about running out of power or swapping batteries. However, the cable is rarely long enough to cover your whole yard without the help of an extension cord.
- Battery-powered DeWalt blowers are more common. Depending on the model’s battery and necessary power usage, they can last as long as 90 minutes or as short as 10 minutes. They are usually as powerful or slightly weaker than corded models.
- Gas leaf blowers are more powerful than corded blowers and can be used anywhere like battery-powered models, making them better choices for those with large yards. However, DeWalt doesn’t currently offer a gas-powered model. If you have a large yard, you may want to look for a different brand.
Nozzle shape
Leaf blower nozzles are typically round or flat.
- Round nozzles let more air through at once, making them forceful enough to push soggy leaves and even loose rocks. All DeWalt leaf blowers come with a round nozzle.
- Flat nozzles are better for moving dry leaves with a little more finesse, as the flat shape somewhat restricts airflow. DeWalt doesn’t currently offer flat nozzle attachments, but it’s possible to find third-party flat nozzles that fit your DeWalt blower.
What to look for in a quality DeWalt leaf blower
Speed control
For all the power that DeWalt leaf blowers offer, sometimes you just don’t need it. For that reason, many DeWalt leaf blowers have variable speed control that lets you choose how much power to use based on preset settings. This will even help lengthen your usage time on battery-operated models.
Air intake
The air intake is the location where air is sucked in so that it can be pushed back out at force. These are usually on the side or the bottom, with bottom intakes being better. The reason is that side intakes tend to grab onto your clothing and interrupt the blower’s airflow.
How much you can expect to spend on a DeWalt leaf blower
DeWalt leaf blowers typically cost $150-$300. Older and weaker models typically cost $200 or less, while their more powerful models cost $200-$250. The $250-$300 range is typically reserved for combo packs with additional tools, such as a chain saw.
DeWalt leaf blower FAQ
What safety precautions should I take when using a DeWalt leaf blower?
A. All leaf blowers have the same dangers that need to be accounted for: noise and sharp shreds of leaves. Noise protection can be as simple as decent quality earplugs, but full-coverage ear muffs are better, especially if you’ll be using the blower for a long time. Protecting yourself from the leaves takes more effort. You’ll want to cover your body from head to toe — that means long sleeves and pants, even in summer — and you should protect your eyes and lungs with goggles and a dust mask respectively.
What does the XR designation mean on DeWalt leaf blowers?
A. The XR designation refers to DeWalt’s latest technological advancement that improves battery life by making energy use more efficient. XR models also tend to have more features or extra power.
What’s the best DeWalt leaf blower to buy?
Top DeWalt leaf blower
DeWalt FlexVolt 60-Volt Max Leaf Blower
What you need to know: It’s among DeWalt’s most powerful leaf blowers.
What you’ll love: Included is the leaf blower, the special 60-volt Max battery and a battery charging base. It has maximum airspeeds of 125 mph and can move 600 cubic feet of air in one minute. It has a variable speed trigger and a lock to maintain that speed.
What you should consider: Its high power requires high energy use, so its battery rarely lasts longer than 30 minutes in any scenario.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Top DeWalt leaf blower for the money
DeWalt 20-Volt Max XR Leaf Blower Kit
What you need to know: This is the perfect starter kit.
What you’ll love: It includes the leaf blower as well as a battery and matching charging base. The blower can reach speeds of up to 125 mph while keeping noise levels to a maximum of 66 decibels. It can run for up to 90 minutes at low power.
What you should consider: On high power, it can only run for 10 to 15 minutes on a full charge. Some consumers had issues with the batteries dying after roughly six months.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
DeWalt 20-Volt String Trimmer and Leaf Blower Combo Kit
What you need to know: This is an excellent total lawn care kit.
What you’ll love: It includes a DeWalt leaf blower, a string trimmer, a spare battery and a battery charger. The leaf blower can reach wind speeds of up to 90 mph and uses a brushless motor for more battery and motor life.
What you should consider: DeWalt offers stronger leaf blowers and better string trimmers separately, but both are much more expensive than this kit.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Jordan C. Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wric.com/reviews/best-dewalt-leaf-blower/
| 2022-04-21T19:28:16Z
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Which brow makeup is best?
Everyone has a favorite feature they like to highlight when they do their makeup. Whether it’s your complexion, your lips or your eyes, any makeup look can appear more balanced and proportionate with full, defined eyebrows. The ultrafine pencil tip and built-in spoolie brush in Benefit Cosmetic’s Precisely, My Brow Pencil are easy for brow pros and beginners alike to use. Here’s how to shop for the best products for your brow goals.
What to know before you buy brow makeup
Brow product types
For such a small part of your face, the number of brow products available can be intimidating. Here’s a breakdown of the most common choices:
- Brow pencils can be used to line and define brows and fill in sparse areas. They’re often paired with brushes or spoolies to help distribute product and shape brows.
- Brow pomades are made from pigments in a creamy or waxy base that’s applied with a brush. This formulation is good for bold, dramatic brows.
- Brow powders help create the appearance of fuller brows by filling in gaps in your brow line. They can look natural or dramatic depending on how much you apply.
- Brow gels are one of the most beginner-friendly choices for filling in as well as shaping brows. They also work as a finishing touch to lock in your brows after using a different brow product. They’re available clear or tinted.
How to fill in brows
Filling in sparse brows can be accomplished with a variety of eyebrow products. Eyebrow pencils are a popular choice because they’re usually the easiest to use, thanks to their fine points that can draw hair-like strokes. However, powders, pomades and tinted gels can also fill in brows depending on the volume, texture and tint you’re looking for.
Remember your brows won’t match
Nobody’s brows are perfectly symmetrical. When you’re using brow makeup, work with the natural shape of your brows, even if they look a little mismatched. Use tweezers or, if you really need them, brow scissors to enhance your natural arches.
What to look for in quality brow makeup
Brow products for beginners
Not sure where to start? A brow gel is a great choice for beginners. Pick a tinted one if you want a filled-in look or a clear gel for quick fixes to unruly brows. For more color coverage, try a pencil with an ultrafine or angled tip to easily replicate the appearance of brow hairs.
Built-in tools
Take the hassle out of doing your brows by choosing products that include the tools you need for application and blending. Many pencils feature pigment on one end and a spoolie brush (like a mascara brush) or smudger on the other. These two-in-one products are also great for traveling.
Brow product colors
Just like choosing a foundation, picking the right brow product shade is essential for a natural look. Many users can get away with taupe shades. However, it can be helpful to pay attention to the color undertones in the makeup. For example, brown eyebrow pencils can lean either red (warm) or gray (cool). If you’re blonde, choose brow makeup with warm undertones to avoid making your brows look gray.
How much you can expect to spend on brow makeup
Brow products range in price from $2-$50. Many high-quality products of any formulation can be found for $22-$30.
Brow makeup FAQ
Are brow stencils worth it?
A. Brow stencils are often suggested for beginners to help them identify where to tweeze or fill in. These flexible plastic stencils are available with or without adhesive, and they come in a variety of brow arch shapes so you can find the one that best matches your natural shape. However, they tend to have a learning curve. Even stencil kits that offer lots of different arch shapes may not have one that’s right for you.
How do I fix my overplucked eyebrows?
A. We all get overzealous with tweezers from time to time. Along with filling in sparse areas with a tinted brow gel or pomade, try a brow serum or oil to stimulate hair regrowth. Most importantly, be patient: Brow hair can take from two weeks to a few months to grow back.
What’s the best brow makeup to buy?
Top eyebrow makeup
Benefit Cosmetics Precisely, My Brow Pencil Waterproof Eyebrow Definer
What you need to know: This ultrafine-tipped pencil gives brows up to 12 hours of defined, natural color.
What you’ll love: It has a textured grip for better control and a built-in spoolie to blend out pigment. The formula is waterproof and resists transferring and smudging. It’s available in 12 shades, including gray and auburn.
What you should consider: Despite being waterproof, it can be prone to smudging. The pencil doesn’t contain a lot of product for the cost.
Where to buy: Sold by Sephora and Ulta Beauty
Top eyebrow makeup for the money
Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow Tinted Volumizing Eyebrow Gel
What you need to know: This cult-favorite tinted brow gel now comes in 10 shades (including gray) and three sizes.
What you’ll love: Microfibers help build up fuller yet natural-looking brows. The small spoolie applicator is simple to use and allows for building up layers of product depending on how dramatic you want your brows.
What you should consider: While most users can find a perfect color match, some may prefer a product with more hold and volumizing power.
Where to buy: Sold by Sephora and Ulta Beauty
Worth checking out
KVD Beauty Super Pomade Eyeliner, Shadow & Brow Pigment
What you need to know: A little goes a long way with this beauty multitasker, which can be used as brow pomade, eye shadow or eyeliner.
What you’ll love: Its vegan and cruelty-free formula includes kaolin clay for creamy, workable texture. It comes in 15 shades, including unusual colors, such as magenta and green to match dyed hair as well as white for customizing or lightening shades.
What you should consider: Its texture may make it too challenging for brow beginners. It doesn’t come with a brush.
Where to buy: Sold by Ulta Beauty and Sephora
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Laura Duerr writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T19:28:30Z
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Which brand of pellet grill is best?
Pellet grills combine traditional smoking, plenty of grilling space and highly efficient wood pellets to take most of the guesswork out of smoking foods such as meat and vegetables. If you’re trying to decide between popular brands Z Grills and Traeger, there are some key differences to take into account before choosing the best one for you.
Z Grills
Z Grills has only been around for a few years, but they’ve taken cues from some of the most successful brands. They now produce a reliable lineup of pellet smokers. While there were some manufacturing issues with the electrical systems in older models, those have been cleared up since the release of the 2020 lineup. Z Grills don’t quite have the polish and premium appearance of other brands, but they get the job done at reasonable prices.
Z Grills pros
- Large cooking areas: With sizes up to 1,000 square inches, there’s a choice that should meet anyone’s demands short of a professional caterer.
- Good prices: Dollar for dollar, few other pellet smokers deliver as much real estate as Z Grills.
- Extremely precise temperature control: In real-world testing, some Z Grills strayed only as much as 7 degrees in either direction once completely warmed up. That’s a remarkably tight tolerance for a midrange smoker.
- Low-heat smoke mode: The lowest setting keeps the temperature between roughly 160 and 170 degrees. This makes it perfect for imparting smoky flavors to sensitive foods.
Z Grills cons
- Build quality isn’t perfect: Z Grills don’t quite have the prestigious look of some other brands. However, that doesn’t affect the actual smoking process.
- Few advanced features: Z Grills don’t bother with fancy add-ons such as Wi-Fi connectivity. Instead, their attention has gone to reliable electronics and dependable functionality.
Best Z Grills
As the largest Z Grill offering, it’s the best choice for anyone who loves huge spreads of smoked meat. Aside from being larger than the others, it has thoughtful touches like an easy-empty ash receptacle. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
This 550-square-inch smoker is one of Z Grills’ most recent releases. Despite its refined design and impressive efficiency, it’s also one of Z Grills’ most inexpensive models. This makes it perfect for beginners. Sold by Amazon
It’s the successor to one of the company’s most popular models and for many people, it hits the sweet spot in terms of price, size and performance. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
This is one of the most affordable portable smokers. While its effectiveness is somewhat limited in terms of large cuts of meat, it’s the perfect choice for a smoke-infused grill out at the park or a friend’s house. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Traeger Grills
Traeger designed and built the first-ever pellet smokers in the late 1980s. Because of that, Traeger is undoubtedly the biggest name in pellet grills. While they make some great grills, they do come at a premium compared to the competition. Also, some former Traeger fans claim that quality has fallen off over the last several years.
Traeger Grills pros
- Decades of experience: As the original pellet grill manufacturer, Traeger knows what makes for a good smoking experience.
- A variety of sizes available: Traeger pellet grills range from as little as 200 square inches to as many as 1,000.
- Advanced electronic features: Traeger implements several interesting options in its top pellet grills, such as Wi-Fi connectivity that lets you monitor temperatures.
Traeger Grills cons
- Extremely high prices: You can usually get your hands on a similar, competing pellet smoker for two-thirds or half the price of most Traeger grills.
- Above-average failure rate in recent years: While this wasn’t always the case, a rising percentage of Traeger owners have reported major problems over the last several years. It’s not out of the question that an electrical appliance that also burns wood might malfunction now and then. However, increasing numbers of complaints paint a discouraging picture, especially given the cost of Traeger grills.
Best Traeger Grills
It’s one of Traeger’s largest options and it’s equipped with a dependable thermostat and novel Wi-Fi connectivity. However, it does require a pretty significant investment. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
With 880 square inches of real estate, you can cook up a storm on this high-performing model. It’s the right choice if you’re looking for quality construction from a well-known brand and don’t need bells and whistles such as wireless control and monitoring. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Should you get a Z Grill or Traeger Grill?
If you have a lot of experience with smokers and are willing to invest, you should consider one of Traeger’s top models. The majority of consumers, though, will be perfectly happy spending notably less on a Z Grill, because they’re just about as well made and offer impressive consistency. Plus, most people won’t get much benefit from features such as Wi-Fi connectivity.
Pellet grill FAQ
What kinds of food can you smoke in a pellet grill?
A. Meat is the most popular food to smoke, but it’s far from the only one. Fish, vegetables, tofu and even toast have found their way into pellet smokers across the country. You can even smoke cheese, provided it’s a hard cheese and your pellet grill can smoke at low enough temperatures to avoid melting.
Is smoked food safe and healthy?
A. For the most part, smoked food is roughly as safe and healthy as most things we eat. The more nuanced answer is that smoke does contain potential carcinogens and some are deposited in the meat. It is conceivable that a diet heavy in smoked food could increase cancer risk by a small amount.
However, there’s little chance that a smoked brisket now and then will contribute to illness or early death.
How long does it take to smoke meat, fish, vegetables or cheese?
A. If you only want to impart a light smoke flavor to fish, tofu, veggies or other light foods, you’ll only need 20-60 minutes in the smoker. If you want to fully cook that fish, it’ll take about 3 hours. Large cuts of meat such as pork butts and beef brisket can easily take as long as 11 hours or more from start to finish, depending on your level of experience and attention to detail.
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Chris Thomas writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T19:28:57Z
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Russia’s foreign ministry has announced that it has barred U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 27 other prominent Americans from entering the country.
In a statement on its website Thursday, the ministry said that the move came as a response to “ever-widening anti-Russian sanctions” brought on by the Biden administration. It claimed to be targeting top executives, public intellectuals and journalists shaping what it referred to as “the Russophobic narrative” prevailing in US public debate.
Alongside Harris and Zuckerberg, the ban includes top defense and justice officials; the CEOs of LinkedIn and Bank of America; high-profile foreign affairs commentators; as well as the editor of the Russia-focused Meduza news website.
In a statement Thursday, the ministry said that the travel bans would apply “in perpetuity” and that the sanctions list would be updated “shortly” in responsible to the “hostile actions” of Western authorities.
Similar restrictions were imposed on 61 Canadian citizens, similarly accused of spearheading “Russophobic” policies. Those sanctioned include Cameron Ahmad, director of communications to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Canadian Special Operations Forces Commander Steve Boivin.
Also on Thursday, Russia ordered the closure of all consular missions maintained in the country by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, expelling all their non-Russian staff in retaliation to similar moves by the Baltic states.
___
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Putin tries to claim Mariupol win but won't storm holdout
— China's Xi urges dispute resolution, opposes sanctions
— EXPLAINER: What's the impact if Europe cuts off Russian oil?
— Biden set to announce new military assistance for Ukraine
— AP-NORC poll: Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia
Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian official raised the possibility of a Ukrainian airstrike against the strategically important bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland. His statement on Thursday prompted angry denouncements from top Russian political figures.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, was asked in an interview with Ukraine’s Radio NV whether Kyiv would be able to hit the $4 billion Kerch bridge, which is Moscow’s only direct road link to the peninsula, in order to stem the flow of military resupplies channeled through it.
“Had we been able to do it, we would have already done it,” Danilov said in response. “If there is a possibility, we will definitely do it.”
He did not clarify whether Kyiv currently has the capability to carry out an attack.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, branded Danilov’s statement “nothing else than the announcement of a possible terrorist act” and “unacceptable.”
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Thursday, Peskov added that “all security measures” were in place around the Kerch bridge and “other strategic facilities.”
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LONDON — Western officials say Ukraine will need economic and military support for months to come as the war grinds into a long conflict.
As Russia’s invasion enters a new phase focused on the eastern Donbas region, an official said Putin “is still in a position to win” the war, but not quickly.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, two Western officials said Russia might be able to surround and destroy the bulk of Ukraine’s forces and make territorial gains. An aim of taking all of the Donbas and securing a land bridge to Crimea is “potentially within reach” for Russia’s forces.
However, officials said it is far from certain Russia will achieve that goal. They said Russia had learned some of the lessons of past failures in northern Ukraine, and was showing more effective command-and-control.
But they said Russia was still feeding troops into its eastern offensive “piecemeal” and advancing in long columns of vehicles along roads, leaving its forces vulnerable to attack.
Officials said they also have not yet seen a major push up from the south, which would allow Russian forces to trap Ukraine’s troops in a pincer movement. Partly that is due to 5,000 to 10,000 Russian troops attempting to overcome the last pocket of resistance in the port city of Mariupol.
— By Jill Lawless
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LISBON, Portugal — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Portugal to support a European ban on Russian gas and oil to help his country’s war effort.
Speaking via video conference to the Portuguese parliament on Thursday, Zelenskyy asked the European Union member to help “speed up” sanctions and the delivery of more military aid.
“I hope that you will also advocate a boycott of Russian oil and gas on the EU level,” he said. “The Russian occupiers killed people purely for entertainment, killed them inside their homes and in vehicles in which children were traveling.”
The Ukrainian leader drew a parallel between his country’s fight against Russian aggression and Portugal’s 1974 Carnation Revolution, the military coup by left-leaning officers that overthrew an authoritarian regime and ushered in democracy.
“The Portuguese know how to rid themselves of a dictatorship. … I know that our nations understand each other,” he said during his speech that earned him a standing ovation by lawmakers.
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The mayor of the besieged port city of Mariupol says Russian troops are burying Ukrainian civilians killed in the conflict in order to cover up “military crimes.”
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko claimed that the Russians buried hundreds of civilians killed in Manhush outside Mariupol.
Boychenko said that “the bodies started disappearing from the streets of the city,” charging that the Russians were “hiding the trace of their crimes and using mass graves as one of the instruments for that.”
He said that the Russians dug huge trenches near Manhush, 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) west of Mariupol. “They are taking the bodies of the dead residents of Mariupol in trucks and throw them into those trenches.” He said during an online briefing.
“They are hiding their military crimes,” he said.
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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he is sending another $800 million in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine in the coming days, calling it the “frontlines of freedom” as it defends itself against a Russian invasion.
This $800 million arms package raises to $3.4 billion the amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine since the Russians began their invasion Feb. 24.
Biden says he will ask Congress next week to approve billions more dollars in aid for Ukraine because the assistance package passed last month is now “almost exhausted.” He said officials were still sorting out the appropriate amount to request.
Biden said the U.S. has “the capacity to do this for a long time” as it ships arms to Ukraine, but must work harder to maintain international pressure on Russia in retaliation for its invasion.
Biden said despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims, “There is no evidence yet that Mariupol is completely fallen.” Ukrainian forces and civilians are encircled in a massive steel plant in the city and Biden called on Russia to provide humanitarian corridors so that civilians may flee safely.
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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is making it easier for refugees fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine to come to the United States from Europe while trying to shut down an informal route through northern Mexico that has emerged in recent weeks.
A program announced Thursday will streamline refugee applications for Ukrainians and others fleeing the fighting. But it will no longer routinely grant entry to those who show up at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum, as thousands have done since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began almost two months ago.
The U.S. says it expects to admit up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine and about 15,000 have come since the Feb. 24 invasion, mostly through Mexico. Officials said that, starting Monday, that route will no longer be an option except in extreme circumstances.
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WASHINGTON — A Treasury official says the United States will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help it sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an announcement on Thursday, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, along with Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
The new funding comes on top of $500 million in economic aid that President Joe Biden unveiled in March.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings dominated by conversations over how to manage the spillover from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
— By Fatima Hussein and Chris Megerian
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KYIV, Ukraine — Denmark's prime minister has announced during a visit to Kyiv that her country will more than double the amount it has given to Ukraine to buy weapons.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Thursday that Denmark will donate 600 million kroner ($87.4 million). Standing alongside Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she called it a “new, significant contribution.”
Frederiksen said the total Danish military contribution is now 1 billion kroner. Denmark also will assist Ukraine in the clearing mines in areas that are under Ukrainian control.
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This story corrects kroner to dollar conversion.
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BERLIN -- The U.N. migration agency says the number of people displaced within Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began has risen to 7.7 million.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration said Thursday that more than 600,000 additional people were displaced within the country in the first 17 days of April.
The figures from the IOM came a day after the U.N. refugee agency said the number of people who have fled Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24 has risen to more than 5 million.
The IOM said that more than half of the internally displaced people, mostly in the east of the country, reported a lack of some food products. It said their most pressing problems include cash and access to financial support, followed by medicines.
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million.
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WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s Foreign Ministry says that Poland has frozen the bank account of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw over suspicions it was being used for purposes that were “not good.”
Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina said Thursday that the account was frozen by prosecutors. He said that Poland’s embassy and consulates in Russia have been exposed to various retaliatory steps — with roads around the embassy in Moscow dug up for the past two weeks, complicating entry to and exit from the compound.
He said that almost prevented the departure of Polish diplomats expelled by Russia in the international spat over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Jasina didn’t give further details of the action by prosecutors. According to the Business Insider portal, prosecutors ordered the freezing of the embassy account and that of Russia’s trade mission in Poland for six months shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, saying the money in the accounts may be used to finance terrorism.
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LONDON -- Britain’s government has announced new sanctions against leaders in Russia’s army responsible for “committing atrocities on the frontline.”
The Foreign Office said Thursday that it’s targeting several Russian generals and military commanders including Lt. Col. Azatbek Omurbekov. Authorities say the so-called “Butcher of Bucha” commanded forces that occupied the town outside Kyiv where multiple reports of war crimes and civilian killings have surfaced.
Omurbekov and several others were subject to a travel ban and asset freeze. British authorities also said Thursday that they are expanding their sanctions list to individuals and companies that are supporting President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. They include Oleg Belozyorov, CEO of logistics company Russian Railways, and Russian weapons suppliers and manufacturers such as Kalashnikov Concern.
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MILAN — Italian energy company ENI has signed a deal with the Republic of Congo to increase natural gas production and supply to Italy, as part of European moves to cut dependence on Russian energy over its invasion of Ukraine.
The deal signed Thursday comes on top of recent deals to increase production and delivery from Algeria and Angola. Italy currently gets some 38% of its natural gas from Russia, and has signed deals to replace about half.
The new deal signed in Brazzaville calls for a new liquefied natural gas project that is expected to launch next year with a capacity of up to 4.5 billion cubic meters a year for export. ENI said it also agreed to back sustainable energy projects in the central African country.
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KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to the Ukrainian president says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol means that the Russian military is unable to perform the task.
Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Thursday that “they cannot physically capture Azovstal,” a giant steel plant that is Ukraine’s last stronghold in the strategic Sea of Azov port.
Arestovich’s statement followed Putin’s attempt to claim control of Mariupol even though Ukrainian defenders have continued to fight at Azovstal. Putin ordered his defense minister not to send troops to storm the plant and to block it instead.
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HELSINKI -- Latvia’s Parliament has approved a statement accusing Russia of carrying out genocide against the Ukrainian people.
The statement approved unanimously Thursday by the Baltic country’s 100-seat Saeima legislature pointed to extensive testimony and evidence of crimes committed by the Russian military in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and elsewhere.
It said that, as a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union and NATO, Latvia cannot accept Russia’s actions. Neighboring Estonia’s Parliament agreed later Thursday on a similar statement.
The Latvian statement also called on EU member countries to stop importing Russian oil and gas immediately.
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MOSCOW — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine “continues according to plan” although President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol.
Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there was and still is an opportunity for Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms and come out via established corridors.”
He said that “the operation continues according to plan” and that Mariupol “has been liberated.” Asked whether the order not to storm the steel plant represented a change of plans, he said that “this is a separate facility where the remaining group of Ukrainian nationalists is completely blocked.”
Credit: Dmitri Lovetsky
Credit: Dmitri Lovetsky
Credit: Huang Jingwen
Credit: Huang Jingwen
Credit: Evan Vucci
Credit: Evan Vucci
Credit: Mark Schiefelbein
Credit: Mark Schiefelbein
Credit: Emilio Morenatti
Credit: Emilio Morenatti
Credit: Felipe Dana
Credit: Felipe Dana
Credit: Uncredited
Credit: Uncredited
Credit: Efrem Lukatsky
Credit: Efrem Lukatsky
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| 2022-04-21T19:29:36Z
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson endorsed state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks on Thursday in her campaign for the state's 1st Congressional District.
Pansing Brooks, a Democrat, is looking to replace former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican who resigned after he was convicted on charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal campaign contribution.
Nelson, a Democrat, said Pansing Brooks has worked with both parties while in the state legislature and passed more than 60 bills.
Pansing Brooks will face state Sen. Mike Flood, a Republican, in a June 28 special election to determine who will serve the remainder of Fortenberry's term in Congress. She's also expected to face him again in November, assuming that they both win their parties' May 10 primary nomination as expected.
Nelson is the most recent Democrat to have served as Nebraska's governor, with a tenure from 1991 to 1999. He was a U.S. senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013.
Pansing Brooks has served in the Legislature since 2015 and is leaving office in January due to term limits.
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| 2022-04-21T19:29:49Z
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OPELOUSAS, La. (AP) — A southwest Louisiana parish government has voted to remove a 102-year-old Confederate monument that currently stands on the courthouse grounds in Opelousas.
The St. Landry Parish Council voted 10-3 Wednesday in favor of a resolution to remove the monument and donate it to daughters and sons of the Confederate veterans organizations, The Advocate reported.
Details about the cost and the date of the removal were pending.
But the council’s decision already represents a milestone in the Acadiana region and a moment of relief for thousands of Black people who live in St. Landry Parish.
“Some people said we would just get along with what happened in the past,” said Charles Cravins, a former district attorney in St. Landry Parish and one of the leading opponents of the monument. “But to get along with it, we have to treat each other with dignity and respect. That monument represents the opposite.
“If it cost $15,000 to move this monument, it means it is gonna be about 50 cents per every African American person of this parish. We have come a long way. Many of our parents were not allowed to come here to this chamber and talk. And we came here now, believing this time we were going to be successful.”
Cravins, now an attorney in Opelousas, led the request to remove the statue with the support of retired Opelousas City Court Judge Vanessa Harris. Both Cravins and Harris were the first Black people to serve in their respective positions. Harris is currently serving as a judge pro tempore for Lafayette City Court until a November election to replace Michelle Odinet, who resigned after a video of Odinet using a racial slur surfaced in December.
The statue was erected in February 1920 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s Louisiana division and Gordon chapter, nearly 55 years after the Civil War ended. It stands on the northeast corner of the courthouse square.
Cravins said the monument was erected during the Jim Crow period of intimidation and discrimination against Black people in America when the United Daughters and other groups supported the Lost Cause ideology and White supremacist ideas.
Supporters said the monument's purpose was nothing other than honoring named and unnamed veterans of the Confederate Army who fought in the Civil War.
“Over 50,000 men served Louisiana during the war,” said St. Landry Parish resident George Gremillion in support of the monument. “Many of them were killed on battlefields, and they were buried in mass graves. Those guys do not know where they were buried.
“To the wives, the daughters and the sisters, they put together their efforts and constructed this monument downtown here to honor, to have a place for them to say thanks to their loved ones. When all you guys go out there and see your parents and grandparents’ headstones there, you can go honor them. A lot of families can’t say that. That’s why this monument is here: for our war deads.”
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| 2022-04-21T19:30:14Z
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Stephen Vogt returned to the A’s last month, but he won’t return to the active roster for a while. On Thursday, the A’s placed Vogt on the 10-day injured list because of a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his right knee.
Vogt, normally a catcher, was playing first base in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Orioles. In the eighth inning, Cedric Mullins hit a grounder to shortstop. Vogt jumped for Elvis Andrus’ throw and Mullins banged into Vogt’s knee on what was ruled a single.
Vogt departed after the play, and he now won’t be on the field for a while. A’s manager Mark Kotsay would not speculate on a timeline for Vogt to resume baseball activities.
Vogt spent part of five seasons (2013-17) with the A’s before stints with Milwaukee, the Giants, Arizona and Atlanta. He re-signed with the A’s as a free agent March 24. Wednesday’s game marked his first appearance at the Coliseum with Oakland since 2017.
Though the crowd was a mere 2,703, Vogt still appreciated the fans chanting “We believe in Stephen Vogt.”
Vogt said he had a “lot of emotions” Wednesday, even as he headed to the clubhouse in the eighth.
“I didn’t really like walking across the field the way I did,” Vogt said Thursday morning, “but it was really cool, and to hear the fans chanting again was really special. Just brought back a lot of good memories.”
Vogt is 1-for-14 this season, with the hit a homer at Toronto on Sunday.
The A’s filled Vogt’s roster spot by reinstating catcher Austin Allen, who had been on the COVID-19 injured list.
Oakland also removed the “substitute player” designation from catcher/first baseman Christian Bethancourt, putting him on the 40-man roster.
Bethancourt, 30, had not been in the big leagues since playing for the Padres in 2017.
“You love to reward guys for what they’ve earned,” Kotsay said, “and Bethancourt’s a guy that’s really earned this opportunity. He really performed well in spring training. He fit with our group.
“You have to be happy for a guy that’s kind of a veteran journeyman that’s grinded through years of trying to get back to the major leagues.”
Bethancourt entered Thursday 5-for-20 this season. He was in the lineup as the designated hitter.
To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the A’s designated minor-league pitcher Miguel Romero for assignment.
Briefly: Friday’s series opener against Texas will be carried exclusively on the AppleTV+ streaming service. … Barring a rainout during the three-game series against the Rangers, the A’s will have their first off-day of 2022 on Monday after playing 17 consecutive days. … When asked during his morning news conference if he’s a basketball fan, Kotsay showed off his Warriors undershirt.
Chronicle national baseball writer John Shea contributed to this report.
Steve Kroner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: skroner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveKronerSF
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| 2022-04-21T19:32:14Z
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The vessel was launched this week at the Setoda Shipyard of Naikai Zosen Corporation in Hiroshima.
Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa attended the naming and launching event online from Apia and was joined by the Ambassador of Samoa to Japan, Fa'alava'au Perina Sila-Tualaulelei, Senior Coordinator, International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Ohmura Kazuyoshi, the Mayor of Onomichi City Mr Hiratani Yukihiro, JICS and the President and executives of the Naikai Zosen Corporation.
Ambassador Sila-Tualaulelei thanked the Government of Japan for its continued assistance to Samoa’s development aspirations.
“This vessel will contribute in strengthening Samoa’s maritime connectivity and enhance safe and efficient sea transportation, economic and trade links with American Samoa,” Ambassador Sila-Tualaulelei said.
The vessel was built under Japan’s grant aid assistance.
MV LADY SAMOA IV features an environment-friendly design with consideration for passenger comfort, advanced technology throughout and is equipped to handle a wide variety of cargo shipment.
It can carry 280 passengers and 17 crew.
The vessel will remain at the shipyard in Hiroshima to be outfitted, to undergo a series of performance inspections, and provide operational training to its Samoan crew before it is delivered to Samoa in August.
Photo supplied
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| 2022-04-21T19:35:10Z
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WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) — A Texas junior college baseball conference has suspended a pitcher for four games after he tackled an opposing batter after a home run, and the batter also was suspended for two games because he was ejected for taunting.
The North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference announced Thursday it suspended both players and many more from both teams due to the resulting brawl.
Online video of the play showed North Central Texas College’s Josh Phillips rounding third after his sixth-inning home run, only to have Weatherford College pitcher Owen Woodward charge off the mound and level him with a violent blow to the midsection. Several players then charged on to the field.
Weatherford officials have said Woodward could face expulsion from school as the play caught widespread online attention.
But the league office handed out most of its punishment for the North Central Texas program because of the players who ran onto the field after the hit.
The league suspended for two games “all team members for NCTC that were in the dugout or bullpen” and any assistant coaches who stepped onto the field. It also suspended four additional Weatherford players and assistant coaches for two games.
If that leaves North Central Texas without enough players for its next two games against Weatherford, it will have to forfeit, the league said. Both teams were ordered to forfeit the game that was stopped.
The teams are scheduled to play each other this weekend.
“We are shocked and disappointed at what happened in our game today,” Weatherford coach Jeff Lightfoot said after the game. “We do not condone this type of behavior. We have worked hard to build a program with the highest of standards. We are completely embarrassed by this incident, and we apologize to North Central Texas College and the fans of WC baseball. This type of behavior cannot be tolerated.”
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More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-04-21T19:35:36Z
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U.S. says China continues to 'parrot' some Russian security concepts
WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that China continues to "parrot" some of Russia's security ideas amid the war in Ukraine, including the Kremlin's concept of "indivisible security."
State Department spokesman Ned Price made the comment at a regular briefing when asked about a speech by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in which he referenced the concept along with his proposed "global security initiative." (Reporting by Simon Lewis; Writing by Michael Martina; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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| 2022-04-21T19:35:36Z
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Russia’s foreign ministry has announced that it has barred U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 27 other prominent Americans from entering the country.
In a statement on its website Thursday, the ministry said that the move came as a response to “ever-widening anti-Russian sanctions” brought on by the Biden administration. It claimed to be targeting top executives, public intellectuals and journalists shaping what it referred to as “the Russophobic narrative” prevailing in US public debate.
Alongside Harris and Zuckerberg, the ban includes top defense and justice officials; the CEOs of LinkedIn and Bank of America; high-profile foreign affairs commentators; as well as the editor of the Russia-focused Meduza news website.
In a statement Thursday, the ministry said that the travel bans would apply “in perpetuity” and that the sanctions list would be updated “shortly” in responsible to the “hostile actions” of Western authorities.
Similar restrictions were imposed on 61 Canadian citizens, similarly accused of spearheading “Russophobic” policies. Those sanctioned include Cameron Ahmad, director of communications to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Canadian Special Operations Forces Commander Steve Boivin.
Also on Thursday, Russia ordered the closure of all consular missions maintained in the country by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, expelling all their non-Russian staff in retaliation to similar moves by the Baltic states.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Putin tries to claim Mariupol win but won’t storm holdout
— China’s Xi urges dispute resolution, opposes sanctions
— EXPLAINER: What’s the impact if Europe cuts off Russian oil?
— Biden set to announce new military assistance for Ukraine
— AP-NORC poll: Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia
Follow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian official raised the possibility of a Ukrainian airstrike against the strategically important bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland. His statement on Thursday prompted angry denouncements from top Russian political figures.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, was asked in an interview with Ukraine’s Radio NV whether Kyiv would be able to hit the $4 billion Kerch bridge, which is Moscow’s only direct road link to the peninsula, in order to stem the flow of military resupplies channeled through it.
“Had we been able to do it, we would have already done it,” Danilov said in response. “If there is a possibility, we will definitely do it.”
He did not clarify whether Kyiv currently has the capability to carry out an attack.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, branded Danilov’s statement “nothing else than the announcement of a possible terrorist act” and “unacceptable.”
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Thursday, Peskov added that “all security measures” were in place around the Kerch bridge and “other strategic facilities.”
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LONDON — Western officials say Ukraine will need economic and military support for months to come as the war grinds into a long conflict.
As Russia’s invasion enters a new phase focused on the eastern Donbas region, an official said Putin “is still in a position to win” the war, but not quickly.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, two Western officials said Russia might be able to surround and destroy the bulk of Ukraine’s forces and make territorial gains. An aim of taking all of the Donbas and securing a land bridge to Crimea is “potentially within reach” for Russia’s forces.
However, officials said it is far from certain Russia will achieve that goal. They said Russia had learned some of the lessons of past failures in northern Ukraine, and was showing more effective command-and-control.
But they said Russia was still feeding troops into its eastern offensive “piecemeal” and advancing in long columns of vehicles along roads, leaving its forces vulnerable to attack.
Officials said they also have not yet seen a major push up from the south, which would allow Russian forces to trap Ukraine’s troops in a pincer movement. Partly that is due to 5,000 to 10,000 Russian troops attempting to overcome the last pocket of resistance in the port city of Mariupol.
— By Jill Lawless
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LISBON, Portugal — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Portugal to support a European ban on Russian gas and oil to help his country’s war effort.
Speaking via video conference to the Portuguese parliament on Thursday, Zelenskyy asked the European Union member to help “speed up” sanctions and the delivery of more military aid.
“I hope that you will also advocate a boycott of Russian oil and gas on the EU level,” he said. “The Russian occupiers killed people purely for entertainment, killed them inside their homes and in vehicles in which children were traveling.”
The Ukrainian leader drew a parallel between his country’s fight against Russian aggression and Portugal’s 1974 Carnation Revolution, the military coup by left-leaning officers that overthrew an authoritarian regime and ushered in democracy.
“The Portuguese know how to rid themselves of a dictatorship. … I know that our nations understand each other,” he said during his speech that earned him a standing ovation by lawmakers.
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The mayor of the besieged port city of Mariupol says Russian troops are burying Ukrainian civilians killed in the conflict in order to cover up “military crimes.”
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko claimed that the Russians buried hundreds of civilians killed in Manhush outside Mariupol.
Boychenko said that “the bodies started disappearing from the streets of the city,” charging that the Russians were “hiding the trace of their crimes and using mass graves as one of the instruments for that.”
He said that the Russians dug huge trenches near Manhush, 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) west of Mariupol. “They are taking the bodies of the dead residents of Mariupol in trucks and throw them into those trenches.” He said during an online briefing.
“They are hiding their military crimes,” he said.
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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he is sending another $800 million in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine in the coming days, calling it the “frontlines of freedom” as it defends itself against a Russian invasion.
This $800 million arms package raises to $3.4 billion the amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine since the Russians began their invasion Feb. 24.
Biden says he will ask Congress next week to approve billions more dollars in aid for Ukraine because the assistance package passed last month is now “almost exhausted.” He said officials were still sorting out the appropriate amount to request.
Biden said the U.S. has “the capacity to do this for a long time” as it ships arms to Ukraine, but must work harder to maintain international pressure on Russia in retaliation for its invasion.
Biden said despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims, “There is no evidence yet that Mariupol is completely fallen.” Ukrainian forces and civilians are encircled in a massive steel plant in the city and Biden called on Russia to provide humanitarian corridors so that civilians may flee safely.
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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is making it easier for refugees fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine to come to the United States from Europe while trying to shut down an informal route through northern Mexico that has emerged in recent weeks.
A program announced Thursday will streamline refugee applications for Ukrainians and others fleeing the fighting. But it will no longer routinely grant entry to those who show up at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum, as thousands have done since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began almost two months ago.
The U.S. says it expects to admit up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine and about 15,000 have come since the Feb. 24 invasion, mostly through Mexico. Officials said that, starting Monday, that route will no longer be an option except in extreme circumstances.
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WASHINGTON — A Treasury official says the United States will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help it sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an announcement on Thursday, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, along with Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
The new funding comes on top of $500 million in economic aid that President Joe Biden unveiled in March.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings dominated by conversations over how to manage the spillover from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
— By Fatima Hussein and Chris Megerian
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KYIV, Ukraine — Denmark's prime minister has announced during a visit to Kyiv that her country will more than double the amount it has given to Ukraine to buy weapons.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Thursday that Denmark will donate 600 million kroner ($87.4 million). Standing alongside Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she called it a “new, significant contribution.”
Frederiksen said the total Danish military contribution is now 1 billion kroner. Denmark also will assist Ukraine in the clearing mines in areas that are under Ukrainian control.
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This story corrects kroner to dollar conversion.
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BERLIN -- The U.N. migration agency says the number of people displaced within Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began has risen to 7.7 million.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration said Thursday that more than 600,000 additional people were displaced within the country in the first 17 days of April.
The figures from the IOM came a day after the U.N. refugee agency said the number of people who have fled Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24 has risen to more than 5 million.
The IOM said that more than half of the internally displaced people, mostly in the east of the country, reported a lack of some food products. It said their most pressing problems include cash and access to financial support, followed by medicines.
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million.
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WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s Foreign Ministry says that Poland has frozen the bank account of the Russian Embassy in Warsaw over suspicions it was being used for purposes that were “not good.”
Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina said Thursday that the account was frozen by prosecutors. He said that Poland’s embassy and consulates in Russia have been exposed to various retaliatory steps — with roads around the embassy in Moscow dug up for the past two weeks, complicating entry to and exit from the compound.
He said that almost prevented the departure of Polish diplomats expelled by Russia in the international spat over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Jasina didn’t give further details of the action by prosecutors. According to the Business Insider portal, prosecutors ordered the freezing of the embassy account and that of Russia’s trade mission in Poland for six months shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, saying the money in the accounts may be used to finance terrorism.
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LONDON -- Britain’s government has announced new sanctions against leaders in Russia’s army responsible for “committing atrocities on the frontline.”
The Foreign Office said Thursday that it’s targeting several Russian generals and military commanders including Lt. Col. Azatbek Omurbekov. Authorities say the so-called “Butcher of Bucha” commanded forces that occupied the town outside Kyiv where multiple reports of war crimes and civilian killings have surfaced.
Omurbekov and several others were subject to a travel ban and asset freeze. British authorities also said Thursday that they are expanding their sanctions list to individuals and companies that are supporting President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. They include Oleg Belozyorov, CEO of logistics company Russian Railways, and Russian weapons suppliers and manufacturers such as Kalashnikov Concern.
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MILAN — Italian energy company ENI has signed a deal with the Republic of Congo to increase natural gas production and supply to Italy, as part of European moves to cut dependence on Russian energy over its invasion of Ukraine.
The deal signed Thursday comes on top of recent deals to increase production and delivery from Algeria and Angola. Italy currently gets some 38% of its natural gas from Russia, and has signed deals to replace about half.
The new deal signed in Brazzaville calls for a new liquefied natural gas project that is expected to launch next year with a capacity of up to 4.5 billion cubic meters a year for export. ENI said it also agreed to back sustainable energy projects in the central African country.
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KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to the Ukrainian president says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol means that the Russian military is unable to perform the task.
Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Thursday that “they cannot physically capture Azovstal,” a giant steel plant that is Ukraine’s last stronghold in the strategic Sea of Azov port.
Arestovich’s statement followed Putin’s attempt to claim control of Mariupol even though Ukrainian defenders have continued to fight at Azovstal. Putin ordered his defense minister not to send troops to storm the plant and to block it instead.
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HELSINKI -- Latvia’s Parliament has approved a statement accusing Russia of carrying out genocide against the Ukrainian people.
The statement approved unanimously Thursday by the Baltic country’s 100-seat Saeima legislature pointed to extensive testimony and evidence of crimes committed by the Russian military in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and elsewhere.
It said that, as a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union and NATO, Latvia cannot accept Russia’s actions. Neighboring Estonia’s Parliament agreed later Thursday on a similar statement.
The Latvian statement also called on EU member countries to stop importing Russian oil and gas immediately.
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MOSCOW — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine “continues according to plan” although President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol.
Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there was and still is an opportunity for Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms and come out via established corridors.”
He said that “the operation continues according to plan” and that Mariupol “has been liberated.” Asked whether the order not to storm the steel plant represented a change of plans, he said that “this is a separate facility where the remaining group of Ukrainian nationalists is completely blocked.”
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| 2022-04-21T19:40:25Z
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(The Hill) – A man charged in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was arrested after allegedly bragging about his participation in the riot to an Uber driver.
Jerry Daniel Braun was arrested on April 12 and charged with obstruction during civil disorder, entering and remaining in a building, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
According to court documents unsealed this week, an Uber driver who chauffeured Braun hours after the Jan. 6 riot reported him to the Justice Department after the rider spoke about his involvement in the attack.
Braun, who had an injury near his right eye and was bleeding, told the Uber driver that he tore down barricades at the Capitol, according to dashboard video of the ride.
“So, has it been violent all day?” the Uber driver reportedly asked.
“Well, it started around, right when I got there. I tore down the barricades,” he responded.
When asked why he did that, Braun said “Well, because, so we could get to the Capitol.”
“Well, how’d that work out for ya?” the Uber driver asked.
“Well, it looks like, uh, Biden’s gonna be our president,” Braun responded.
Authorities later determined that the man was Braun after finding his reservation at the hotel where he was dropped off by the Uber and matching his face on the video inside the Uber to a photo from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Braun allegedly physically struggled with law enforcement officers using a barricade, according to court documents citing body camera video from Metropolitan Police Department Officers. He also allegedly struck an individual wearing a press helmet with a long wooden plank and his left hand.
Authorities executed a search warrant at Braun’s residence in South El Monte, Calif., on Nov. 8, during which the defendant voluntarily spoke with agents. Braun confirmed that he took part in demonstrations in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6.
Before departing, the residents agents asked Braun if he wanted to tell them anything, to which he responded “guilty.” Pressed on what he was guilty of, Braun said “everything,” adding that he “flew out there, listened to the speech, walked toward the Capitol, made it to the edge of the crowd.”
Agents seized an iPhone in their search and later discovered text messages related to the Jan. 6 attack. In a message sent at night on Jan. 6, Braun wrote “We tried to stop the steal but they wouldn’t let us in, where were you, the writing your next speech, we are sick of all the talk.”
Almost 800 individuals had been arrested as of April 6 in relation to the insurrection, which marked 15 months since the deadly riot when supporters of former President Trump stormed the Capitol building, according to the Justice Department. Roughly 248 individuals have pleaded guilty to a number of charges.
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https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/jan-6-suspect-arrested-after-allegedly-bragging-to-uber-driver/
| 2022-04-21T19:40:29Z
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Which Instant air fryer is best?
From the same manufacturer as the iconic Instant Pot comes the Instant air fryer. It’s not a special kind of air fryer that fries food instantly, it’s a regular air fryer made by the Instant brand.
You can expect the same reliable quality and ease of use as you’d get from an Instant Pot, but it cooks food with a delectably crispy exterior. If you’re looking for a versatile appliance that can do more than just air fry, the Instant Vortex Pro is a great choice.
What to know before you buy an Instant air fryer
Capacity
The capacity of your air fryer will dictate how much food you can cook at once. If you usually only cook for one or two people, then a compact fryer with a capacity of 2 to 3 quarts will do. However, if you cook for four or more people, then something with a capacity of 5 quarts or more is a better fit. The downside to opting for a larger model is that it is bigger all around and will take up more counter space.
Other cooking functions
Instant air fryers do more than just “fry” food. Since air fryers are technically types of convection ovens, this lets them cook food in other ways too. You can expect at least four cooking functions: air fry, bake, roast and reheat. However, higher-end versions have even more functions, including toasting, broiling, dehydrating and proving dough.
If you choose a large fryer with a range of cooking functions, it can stand in for a variety of other appliances, including toaster ovens, countertop convection ovens and dehydrators. So, even though it takes up more kitchen space than a compact model, it actually saves space if you also would have bought even one of these other appliances.
Digital control panel
Air fryers made by Instant have easy-to-use digital control panels. These display all the preset cooking programs as well as the temperature and time settings that you adjust either using the dial or the plus and minus buttons, depending on your chosen model. These controls are not only simple to operate, but the whole panel is easy to wipe clean.
What to look for in a quality Instant air fryer
Adjustable temperature
These fryers have adjustable temperatures, generally between 95 and 400 degrees, but check the model you’re considering for specifics. Some foods cook better at a higher temperature than others, while the lowest temperatures can be used to keep food warm for short periods.
Dishwasher-safe basket
What’s great about Instant air fryers is their baskets are dishwasher-safe. This takes some of the pressure off when you’ve finished your meal and it’s time to clean up after yourself. That said, the nonstick coating may last longer if you wash it by hand.
Quick preheating
Another great feature of Instant brand air fryers is that they take just a few minutes to preheat. You can start cooking much sooner than you’d be able to if you were waiting for an oven to preheat.
How much you can expect to spend on an Instant air fryer
Basic models start at around $50, while the largest and most versatile versions cost up to $200.
Instant air fryer FAQ
Is air-fried food healthier?
A. Air-fried food isn’t healthier than deep-fried food in terms of nutrients, but it does contain fewer calories and less fat. If you’re not particularly concerned about calorie content, you might like the fact that air fryers are generally easier to use and less messy than deep fryers. They also don’t produce as strong cooking smells and leave no cooking oil to dispose of.
What can’t you fry in an air fryer?
A. Technically speaking, air fryers are convection ovens. They can produce food with a crispy exterior that’s similar to deep-fried food, but they don’t actually fry anything. Without hot oil to seal the exterior of whatever you’re cooking as soon as it hits the fryer, it isn’t possible to cook foods with wet batter. The batter will slide off before it cooks through.
It can also get messy if you try to cook anything cheesy or with too much loose seasoning in an air fryer. The convection currents can blow it around the cooking chamber and create a big mess.
What’s the best Instant air fryer to buy?
Top Instant air fryer
What you need to know: This big, powerful appliance can air fry, broil, bake, roast, reheat, dehydrate, toast and prove dough.
What you’ll love: You can easily adjust the temperature from 95 to 400 degrees using the plus and minus buttons, and it preheats quickly. It has a large capacity but a relatively small footprint. It comes with a range of pans and a rotisserie basket.
What you should consider: If you won’t use any of its functions other than the air fryer, you should opt for a cheaper model.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top Instant air fryer for the money
Instant Vortex 2-quart 4-in-1 Air Fryer
What you need to know: With its compact design and small capacity, this is a great choice for small households or for occasional use.
What you’ll love: It can air fry, bake, roast and reheat. The nonstick basket is dishwasher-safe. The compact size is countertop-friendly. You can choose from four colors: black, white, red and aqua.
What you should consider: It’s only large enough to cook for one or two people.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Instant Vortex 5.7 Quart Large Air Fryer
What you need to know: This multipurpose air fryer is big enough to cook for three to five people.
What you’ll love: It’s simple to use with a digital control panel and a dial to adjust the cook time and temperature. It has four cooking functions: air fry, roast, bake and reheat. It preheats quickly, and the basket is dishwasher-safe.
What you should consider: The alarm that lets you know when the food is done is quiet, so it’s easy to miss.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Lauren Corona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T19:43:01Z
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| 2022-04-21T19:45:59Z
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WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, April 21, 2022
_____
RED FLAG WARNING
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
221 PM CDT Thu Apr 21 2022
...RED FLAG WARNING CONTINUES THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR RELATIVE
HUMIDITY OF 11% OR LESS, 20 FT WINDS OF 20 MPH OR MORE, AND HIGH
TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND ADJACENT AREAS
OF WEST TEXAS...
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR
RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 15% OR LESS, 20 FT WINDS OF 20 MPH OR MORE,
AND HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO SOUTH TO
THE PRESIDIO VALLEY...
...RED FLAG WARNING CONTINUES THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR RELATIVE
HUMIDITY OF 11% OR LESS, 20 FT WINDS OF 20 MPH OR MORE, AND HIGH
TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND ADJACENT AREAS
OF WEST TEXAS...
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR
RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 15% OR LESS, 20 FT WINDS OF 20 MPH OR MORE,
AND HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO SOUTH TO
THE PRESIDIO VALLEY...
* AFFECTED AREA...Sacramento Foothills and Guadalupe Mountains,
Chaves Plains, Eddy Plains, Lea, Guadalupe Mountains Above
7000 Feet, Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains, Van Horn and
Highway 54 Corridor and Eastern Culberson County.
* TIMING...Warning...through this evening. Watch...Friday
afternoon and evening.
* WINDS...Southwest 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 5 percent.
* RFTI...8 or extreme.
* IMPACTS...Avoid the use of open flames or any activities that
may generate sparks. Accidental ignitions will have the
potential to grow into dangerous wind-driven wildfires.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong
winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures will increase
potential for fire growth.
TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR GAINES COUNTY...
* AFFECTED AREA...Gaines.
* TIMING...Through this evening.
* WINDS...South 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 6 percent.
* RFTI...4 or near critical.
* AFFECTED AREA...Loving, Winkler, Ward, Reeves County Plains,
Chinati Mountains, Marfa Plateau, Davis Mountains, Davis
Mountains Foothills and Presidio Valley.
* TIMING...Friday afternoon and evening.
* WINDS...Southwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 8 percent.
* RFTI...5 to 6 or critical.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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| 2022-04-21T19:52:08Z
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Insurance industry data 'not up to scratch' and it could delay your claim, consumer group warns
Vlad Chudoschnik, 71, and his wife, Rhonda, have insured their motor vehicles with Budget Direct for over a decade.
Key points:
- Consumer groups say the insurance industry's central database is error ridden
- They warn that this could compromise customers' insurance claims
- The Insurance Council of Australia says improvements to the database are "well advanced"
So when their twin-cab ute was dinged during a caravanning trip to Queensland last year, they thought it would be a straightforward process to make a claim.
"The vehicle was parked in front of our caravan. A fellow leaving the caravan park was going too quickly and clipped the corner of the roo bar," Mr Chudoschnik explained.
The ute only had minor damage.
But it soon became a major headache.
After notifying Budget Direct, the couple was told there were two claims on their file on the industry's central database (the Insurance Reference Service).
Mr Chudoschnik was aware of one claim related to his home insurance but did not know what the second claim referred to.
"They said the prefix of the claim starts at RAC, so we suggest you contact the RACV. I said we don't have a policy with them – that's when the chase started," he told ABC News.
Despite the damage to the car clearly being the fault of the other driver, Budget Direct would not arrange to fix the car until Mr Chudoschnik paid the excess on his insurance, which he refused to do.
What followed was hours and hours of phone calls and research over a period of three months to try and discover the origins of the claim.
Eventually, Mr Chudoschnik discovered it was a claim he had lodged regarding his caravan but had been rejected.
But, unfortunately, there was an administrative error and the case had not been closed – so it was still showing up on the central database.
"I was very disillusioned with the insurance company," Mr Chudoschnik said.
"I requested they remove this claim, they said they can't."
He almost gave up but was worried his premiums would rise if this case was not closed.
"I felt like I was back at work and not being paid," lamented Mr Chudoschnik.
Insurance data-handling errors
The Financial Rights Legal Centre said poor data handling is rife throughout the general insurance industry (which covers things like building, home contents and motor vehicle insurance).
"Our research has found the data-handling practices of insurers and their central database is not up to scratch," senior policy officer Drew MacRae said.
"It's error-ridden, it's very difficult to access, inconvenient and unreliable."
This can affect consumers' future claims and even disclosure requirements (which may mean insurers can later deny a claim).
"When you purchase an insurance product, you need to disclose your prior insurance claims and any other incidents," Mr MacRae said.
It is hard to have this information at hand and remember it correctly, so the insurance industry offers to send you your insurance history by spending $22 on a report from the central database.
The Financial Rights Legal Centre said the insurance industry has an opportunity to lift their data standards with the expansion of the Consumer Data Right (CDR) to the general insurance sector.
The CDR's aim is to make it easier to switch products by having the right to share data between service providers.
A spokesperson from the Insurance Council of Australia said it is: "Well-advanced in a significant data improvement program in 2022 to address IRS [Insurance Reference Service] data quality and consistency across the 16 insurers, that will address many of the points raised in the FRLC report."
It also acknowledges a need for engagement and new policies around the proposed introduction of the CDR to general insurance.
In a statement, Auto and General Holdings, which owns the Budget Direct brand, said: "We don't assume the accuracy of IRS listings, they are simply used as a prompt to discuss key information with our customers and to understand circumstances more efficiently."
It added that it would not discuss individual customer claims.
Eventually, Mr Chudoschnik was able to find out which company had the insurance claim open and ask them to amend its records.
Budget Direct did finally arrange to fix his vehicle.
"The advice is: don't give up," was Mr Chudoschnik's suggestion to others in his situation.
"Be prepared to do some homework and don't just take the insurance company's view."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-22/insurance-mistake-risk-claims-payouts/101005242
| 2022-04-21T19:53:04Z
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The Original, Hand-Painted Design for Patek Philippe’s Nautilus Just Sold for $727,000
Click here to read the full article.
Patek Philippe ’s coveted Nautilus watch can set you back as much as $200,000. Its original design just sold for well over three times that amount.
On Tuesday, Sotheby’s auctioned off a hand-painted design of the watch made by Gérald Genta , the beloved Swiss industrial designer responsible for some of the world’s most sought-after timepieces, for $727,000. Ten bidders from across the world battled over the drawing, a lot in the auction house’s “Gérald Genta: Icon of Time” sale in Hong Kong. The eventual winner was an Asia-based private collector. In total, this sale offered 34 lots comprised of 100 prototype paintings, which include not only the famed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Nautilus watches (including alternative designs) but also other well-known Genta timepieces and private commissions. (Genta’s original painting of the Royal Oak hammered for $610,586.) Each painting is accompanied by a unique NFT.
If you’re a watch lover, you’ve no doubt heard of Genta, famed for creating the world’s first “luxury sports watches” with integrated bracelets. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of these watches, or of the man himself; owning one of his original hand-painted designs is the equivalent of owning a furniture sketch by Charles Eames, or an architectural drawing by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Royal Oak famously saved Audemars Piguet from the onset of the Quartz Crisis, which decimated Swiss watchmaking with the advent of the inexpensive, battery-powered movement. The Nautilus similarly buoyed Patek Philippe’s business, becoming so successful that the brand’s current president Thierry Stern discontinued the steel, time-and-date version of the watch within the firm’s catalog to prevent it from becoming synonymous with “Patek” in the minds of watch collectors the world over.
The Genta auctions will continue on May 10 in Geneva as part of the Important Watches sale, during which the designer’s personal Royal Oak will be offered together with four of his oil paintings. The sales will conclude in New York between June 8 to 22, when Genta’s designs for his unique Disney-inspired watches will come under the hammer.
More from Robb Report Best of Robb Report
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https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2578139026415/the-original-hand-painted-design-for-patek-philippe-s-nautilus-just-sold-for-727-000
| 2022-04-21T19:58:33Z
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly shooting his 15-year-old half-brother in their apartment Wednesday morning in Bandon.
According to a press release from Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier, 24-year-old Torin Mowery shot his brother, Finnian Lewis, at their apartment at 1574 Harvard Street.
Coos County emergency personnel originally received the report of a shooting at 10:49 a.m. Wednesday. By the time they arrived at the home in Bandon, Frasier said first responders found Lewis shot to death.
Information is limited as authorities have not released details on the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
Mowery was taken to the Coos County Jail on one second-degree murder charge. His bail has been set at $2 million, and he was arraigned on Thursday morning.
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https://www.koin.com/news/crime/man-allegedly-shoots-kills-15-year-old-half-brother-in-bandon/
| 2022-04-21T20:00:27Z
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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s air force and Palestinian militants traded fire across the Gaza frontier early Thursday as clashes erupted again at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, worsening an escalation that has been eerily similar to the lead-up to last year’s Israel-Gaza war.
The Gaza violence, fueled by the unrest between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem, appears to be the heaviest-cross-border fighting since last year’s 11-day war and comes despite efforts to prevent a repeat. A rocket fired from Gaza earlier this week was the first to have been launched since the war.
The latest Israeli-Palestinian tensions boiled over after a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, which then sparked days-long, sometimes lethal, arrest raids by the military in a flashpoint West Bank city and spread into daily clashes in Jerusalem. This year, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has coincided with Passover, a time of heightened religious observances and visits by large numbers of people to Jerusalem.
Palestinian militants fired two rockets toward Israel from the Gaza Strip late Wednesday and early Thursday, and Israeli aircraft hit militant targets in the seaside, Hamas-ruled enclave. One rocket landed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, a frequent target, and another fell short and landed in Gaza, the Israeli military said. The launches set off air-raid sirens across parts of southern Israel, disrupting the quiet of the Passover holiday week.
Early Thursday, Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip, local media reported. Social media posts by activists showed smoke billowing in the air. The Israeli military said the airstrikes were aimed at a militant site and the entrance of a tunnel leading to an underground complex holding chemicals to make rockets.
The military later said its planes attacked another Hamas compound after an anti-aircraft missile was fired from Gaza. It said the missile failed to hit its target and no injuries or damage were reported.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police said dozens of masked protesters holed up in the Al-Aqsa Mosque early Thursday, sealed the doors and began throwing rocks and firecrackers. Police said they attempted to disperse the Palestinians using “riot dispersal means,” without elaborating, and that forces did not enter the mosque itself.
A Palestinian official from the Waqf, which administers the site, said large numbers of police used stun grenades to clear out the site. He said police also fired stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets against Palestinians who had sealed themselves inside the mosque. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident with the media.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 20 people were injured, one critically.
Similar clashes have taken place throughout the week, while fiercer ones broke out at the site earlier this month, wounding more than 150 Palestinians and three police officers.
The Palestinians have accused Israeli police of using excessive force at the holy site, and Palestinian social media have been filled with videos showing Israeli forces striking what appear to be unarmed Palestinians, including women. Police say Palestinians instigate the violence and have released their own videos showing young Palestinian men throwing rocks and fireworks toward the security forces. Police say the Palestinians are desecrating their own shrine and putting others at risk.
An emergency meeting of a regional Arab committee convened in Jordan Thursday over what it called “illegal Israeli policies and measures” in Jerusalem. It condemned the Israeli actions, called them provocative and called on Israel to ensure that only Muslims worship at the site.
The committee includes member countries who have recently normalized ties with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates. The country’s top diplomat, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke by phone Thursday. Al Nahyan called for stability, according to the United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency.
A U.S. State Department delegation is also in the region in a bid to secure calm.
The scenes of rocket fire and repeated violence in Jerusalem recalled the run-up to last year’s war. Last year, the violence also spread to mixed Jewish-Arab cities, which hasn’t happened in the current wave of unrest.
On Wednesday, hundreds of flag-waving Israeli ultra-nationalists marched toward predominantly Palestinian areas around Jerusalem’s Old City, a demonstration of Israeli control over the disputed city seen as a provocation by Palestinians. Last year’s war erupted during a similar march, when Gaza militants, declaring themselves the guardians of Jerusalem, fired a barrage of rockets toward the holy city.
Those events, along with other developments, led to an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas that killed over 250 Palestinians and 14 people in Israel, causing extensive damage in Gaza.
This year, Israeli police closed the main road leading to the Damascus Gate of the Old City and the heart of Muslim Quarter. After some pushing and shoving with police, the marchers rallied near the barricades, waving flags, singing and chanting.
Israeli nationalists stage such marches to try to assert sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which Israel seized in 1967, along with the West Bank and Gaza, and annexed in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians seek an independent state in all three territories and consider east Jerusalem their capital.
The hilltop shrine in the Old City is the emotional ground zero of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the center of previous rounds of violence. Known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, it is the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the holiest site in Judaism, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site of their biblical temples.
Israel says it is maintaining a decades-old status quo at the site, which prevents Jews from praying there. But during the Passover holiday this year, visits by Jews have skyrocketed and in some cases Jews have been praying at the compound. Palestinians view the visits, under police escort, as a provocation and possible prelude to Israel taking over the site or partitioning it.
For Palestinians, the mosque compound, administered by Muslim clerics, is also a rare place in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem where they have a measure of control.
Palestinian militant groups in Gaza — the ruling Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad — have positioned themselves as defenders of the Jerusalem holy site. On Wednesday, Hamas said Israel would bear “full responsibility for the repercussions” if it allowed the marchers “to approach our holy sites.”
___
Associated Press writers Fares Akram in Hamilton, Canada, and Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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| 2022-04-21T20:01:15Z
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(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
Svetla Ben-Itzhak, Air University
(THE CONVERSATION) Even during times of conflict on the ground, space has historically been an arena of collaboration among nations. But trends in the past decade suggest that the nature of cooperation in space is shifting, and fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted these changes.
I’m an international relations scholar who studies power distributions in space – who the main players are, what capabilities they possess and whom they decide to cooperate with. Some scholars predict a future in which single states pursue various levels of dominance, while others foresee a scenario in which commercial entities bring nations together.
But I believe that the future may be different. In the past few years, groups of nations with similar strategic interests on Earth have come together to further their interests in space, forming what I call “space blocs.”
From state-led space efforts to collaboration
The U.S. and the Soviet Union dominated space activities during the Cold War. Despite tensions on the ground, both acted carefully to avoid causing crises and even cooperated on a number of projects in space.
As more countries developed their own space agencies, several international collaborative groups emerged. These include the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems.
In 1975, 10 European nations founded the European Space Agency. In 1998 the U.S. and Russia joined efforts to build the International Space Station, which is now supported by 15 countries.
These multinational ventures were primarily focused on scientific collaboration and data exchange.
The emergence of space blocs
The European Space Agency, which now includes 22 nations, could be considered among the first space blocs. But a more pronounced shift toward this type of power structure can be seen after the end of the Cold War. Countries that shared interests on the ground began coming together to pursue specific mission objectives in space, forming space blocs.
In the past five years, several new space blocs have emerged with various levels of space capabilities. These include the African Space Agency, with 55 member states; the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency, with seven member states; and the Arab Space Coordination Group, with 12 Middle Eastern member states.
These groups allow for nations to collaborate closely with others in their blocs, but the blocs also compete with one another. Two recent space blocs – the Artemis Accords and the Sino-Russian lunar agreement – are an example of such competition.
Race to the Moon
The Artemis Accords were launched in October 2020. They are led by the U.S. and currently include 18 country members. The group’s goal is to return people to the Moon by 2025 and establish a governing framework for exploring and mining on the Moon, Mars and beyond. The mission aims to build a research station on the south pole of the Moon with a supporting lunar space station called the Gateway.
Similarly, in 2019, Russia and China agreed to collaborate on a mission to send people to the south pole of the Moon by 2026. This joint Sino-Russian mission also aims to eventually build a Moon base and place a space station in lunar orbit.
That these blocs do not collaborate to accomplish similar missions on the Moon indicates that strategic interests and rivalries on the ground have been transposed to space.
Any nation can join the Artemis Accords. But Russia and China – along with a number of their allies on Earth – have not done so because some perceive the accords as an effort to expand the U.S.-dominated international order to outer space.
Similarly, Russia and China plan to open their future lunar research station to all interested parties, but no Artemis country has expressed interest. The European Space Agency has even discontinued several joint projects it had planned with Russia and is instead expanding its partnerships with the U.S. and Japan.
The impact of space blocs on the ground
In addition to seeking power in space, countries are also using space blocs to strengthen their spheres of influence on the ground.
One example is the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, which was formed in 2005. Led by China, it includes Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand and Turkey.
While its broad goal is the development and launch of satellites, the organization’s major aim is to expand and normalize the use of the Chinese BeiDou navigation system – the Chinese version of GPS. Countries that use the system could become dependent on China, as is the case of Iran.
The role of private space companies
There has been tremendous growth of commercial activities in space in the past decade. As a result, some scholars see a future of space cooperation defined by shared commercial interests. In this scenario, commercial entities act as intermediaries between states, uniting them behind specific commercial projects in space.
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However, commercial enterprises are unlikely to dictate future international cooperation in space. According to current international space law, any company that operates in space does so as an extension of – and under the jurisdiction of – its home nation’s government.
The dominance of states over companies in space affairs has been starkly exemplified through the Ukraine crisis. As a result of state-imposed sanctions, many commercial space companies have stopped collaborating with Russia.
Given the current legal framework, it seems most likely that states – not commercial entities – will continue to dictate the rules in space.
Space blocs for collaboration or conflict
I believe that going forward, state formations – such as space blocs – will serve as the major means through which states further their national interests in space and on the ground. There are many benefits when nations come together and form space blocs. Space is hard, so pooling resources, manpower and know-how makes sense. However, such a system also comes with inherent dangers.
History offers many examples showing that the more rigid alliances become, the more likely conflict is to ensue. The growing rigidity of two alliances – the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance – at the end of 19th century is often cited as the key trigger of World War I.
A key lesson therein is that as long as existing space blocs remain flexible and open to all, cooperation will flourish and the world may yet avoid an open conflict in space. Maintaining the focus on scientific goals and exchanges between and within space blocs – while keeping political rivalries at bay – will help to ensure the future of international cooperation in space.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/space-blocs-the-future-of-international-cooperation-in-space-is-splitting-along-lines-of-power-on-earth-180221.
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| 2022-04-21T20:03:48Z
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Brother of UK rap star Dave has murder minimum jail term cut
- Published
A killer whose therapy in prison inspired a Mercury Prize-winning album by his brother Dave the rapper, has had his minimum jail term cut.
Christopher Omoregie was one of three teenagers found guilty of murdering 15-year-old Sofyen Belamouadden at a busy London Tube station in 2010.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 18 years.
The High Court found Omoregie, now 28, had made "exceptional and unforeseen progress".
Sofyen was chased into the ticket hall at Victoria underground station after a clash between two rival school groups.
He was stabbed to death in a "sustained and vicious attack" in front of commuters.
One of the knives used to stab the teenager was later found in Omoregie's bag.
In jail, Omoregie took part in a therapy programme called Psychodrama, after which his brother Dave, full name David Omoregie, named the album that won him the 2019 music award.
The High Court judge's ruling included a report from the therapist who conducted the course, who said Omoregie was good at "communication, tolerance, warmth and generosity".
Early in his sentence, he had described his mother and brothers as "protective factors", who had stood by him, and said it was important for him not to let them down again in the future.
Omoregie also prepared a letter for the victim's family as part of a restorative justice programme.
He had also discussed the case with the judge that tried his case after he invited him to an event in prison.
'Devastating effect'
A 2020 report highlighted by Mr Justice Dove described Omoregie as a "bright man, with a very positive record of behaviour in prison", including studying for an Open University degree.
The judge said Omoregie had "developed a sincere and genuine remorse" for his involvement in the murder.
However, the judge added it was clear the murder had had a "devastating effect" upon Sofyen's "immediate family, who continue to mourn his loss and have difficulty in coming to terms with the events of that day".
"He was unarmed and the manner of his death, being hunted down and killed, continues to cast a very long shadow over the lives of those who were close to him," he added.
Omoregie will be able to apply to the Parole Board one year sooner as a result of the judge's decision, but will only be released when the board is satisfied he no longer poses a danger to the public.
- 19 February 2020
- 19 September 2019
- 24 October 2012
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61183076?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
| 2022-04-21T20:04:29Z
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Which induction pan set is best?
Induction cooktops might be superior in terms of the speed in which they heat and their energy efficiency, but they have one significant downside — not all cookware can be used on an induction cooktop. If you have an induction stove, you’ll need the best induction pan sets to make the most of it.
The Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Cookware Set is durable, beautiful and safe for use on induction stoves.
What to know before you buy an induction pan set
Types of pans in the set
An induction pan set can Include anywhere from five to 12 or more pieces. These might be:
- Frying pans
- Saute pans
- Saucepans
- Skillets
- Steamer inserts
- Woks
- Grill pans
- Stock pots
- Dutch ovens
If you don’t cook regularly or widely, you might only need a saute pan and a saucepan or two, but committed home cooks who want to expand their skills should look for a larger set with a wider array of pots and pans.
Pan material
As with pans for other types of stoves, induction pan sets can be made of a variety of materials.
- Stainless steel: This is durable and easy to clean. Professional cooks like stainless steel for its even heating, but you need to use enough oil to prevent sticking.
- Cast iron: Cast-iron pans are traditional in all types of cooking, but they’re heavy and require seasoning to maintain a nonstick surface. If you like the idea of cooking with cast iron, look for enameled cast iron, without the need for seasoning.
- Copper: Copper pans are beautiful but pricey. They also require quite a bit of maintenance and care to stay shiny. Still, some cooks prefer them for their precise temperature control.
- Hard-anodized aluminum: When aluminum is anodized it becomes tough and durable. These pans can take a beating, but some people avoid aluminum for potential health concerns.
Number of pans
The number of pans you need in your set depends how much cooking you plan to do, but it also depends on how much storage space you have. Keep in mind that larger sets of pans often save more money over smaller ones when it comes to buying each piece individually.
What to look for in a quality induction pan set
Lids
The lid of each pan should fit nicely into the base. This keeps moisture from escaping without locking the lid in place. Glass lids are a nice touch, as you can see what’s happening in the pan without lifting the lid.
Cool handles
Many cooks have burned their hands reaching for a pot on the stove. Look for stay-cool handles for the pot and lid.
Oven-safe
Many recipes call for searing on the stove and finishing in the oven. The best induction pan sets are oven-safe to 500 degrees or more. Make sure your lids are oven-safe as well.
How much you can expect to spend on an induction pan set
A high-quality induction pan set meant to be handed down to younger family members can cost $900 or more. Most other sets with 10 or more pans cost $150-$500.
Induction pan set FAQ
Do you cook differently on an induction stove?
A. In many cases, an induction stove heats more quickly than other types of cooktops. This means that your food generally cooks faster. While this is a distinct advantage when throwing together a meal on a busy night, if you are not used to the speed of an induction cooktop, you may burn your first few attempts at dinner.
Why do induction stoves need different pans?
A. The heating mechanism transfers heat to pans through a magnetic coil, not through the surface of the stove. This means that only pans with iron metals, such as stainless steel and cast iron, can work.
Some makers of cookware use a core of iron metals wrapped in other materials, but the common denominator is the requirement of iron to heat the pot or pan.
What’s the best induction pan set to buy?
Top induction pan set
Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Cookware Set
What you need to know: This is a high-performance set from a trusted cookware brand.
What you’ll love: The handles stay cool while water boils quickly and the pots and pans heat evenly. The 12 pieces include 1½- and 3-quart saucepans with lids, 8- and 10-inch skillets, a 3½-quart saute pan with a lid, an 8-quart stockpot with a lid and a steamer insert with lid.
What you should consider: Check your set carefully. Users occasionally receive defective items.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon, Home Depot and Macy’s
Top induction pan set for the money
Gotham Steel Hammered Copper Collection
What you need to know: This is a luxurious look on a budget.
What you’ll love: These oven- and dishwasher-safe pans have a solid aluminum core covered with granite stone, then finished in non-stick coating. They heat evenly, and the 15-piece set even includes a muffin pan, cookie sheets and cake tins.
What you should consider: Some people preferred heavier pots and pans.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
All-Clad Brushed D5 Stainless Cookware Set
What you need to know: All-Clad cookware is the choice of professional chefs and a worthwhile investment for the serious home cook.
What you’ll love: Five-ply bonded stainless steel is oven-safe to 600 degrees. The 10 pieces of this set include kitchen workhorses such as 8- and 10-inch skillets, 1½- and 3-quart sauce pans with lids, a 3-quart saute pan and a 5½-quart Dutch oven with lid.
What you should consider: The price tag is daunting. But with proper care you’ll never need to buy cookware again, and these are safe on every type of cooking surface.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon, Macy’s and Sur la Table
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Suzannah Kolbeck writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-21T20:07:16Z
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In her television clash with President Emmanuel Macron last night, Marine Le Pen overcame her main challenge: not to repeat her disastrous 2017 debate performance when her aggressive, awkward and inept conduct became a byword for a fiasco. For almost three hours, the far-right presidential contender capably brandished statistics, had a better grasp of her dossiers and showcased a softer, more emotionally intelligent side to her personality to French voters.
However, Mr Macron still trounced her.
The president, facing a rematch with Ms Le Pen in Sunday’s run-off election, never looked troubled. He had an easy command of data and policies, delivered witty and cutting responses to attacks on his record, and connected smoothly with his audience. While Mr Macron is known for charm, intelligence and self-belief, he is also a devastating debater, as he showed last night. He was in a different class to Ms Le Pen. If he was fencing with an epée, she was wielding a baguette.
The contrast emerged in the opening exchange on the cost of living, a theme that should have favoured Ms Le Pen, who has built her campaign on it. She said the French people were suffering from a loss of purchasing power and promised various solutions, particularly for the working classes. But Mr Macron countered that whenever his government tackled the issue, through measures like the recent price cap on fuel prices, Ms Le Pen’s party always voted against them in the National Assembly. It would become a regular theme in the debate, with her claims undercut by her own voting record or past statements.
Ms Le Pen slipped further when the debate turned to the war in Ukraine, where she tried to show her “absolute solidarity and compassion” with the embattled country. Mr Macron had little difficulty denting her credibility, pointing out Ms Le Pen’s previous admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin – a photo of them shaking hands features in her campaign flyer – as well as the €9m (£8m) loan her party took from a Russian bank in 2015 that effectively put her on the Kremlin’s payroll. “You depend on Russia and you depend on Mr Putin,” he said. “When you speak to Russia, you are not speaking to any foreign leader, you are talking to your banker.”
When it came to climate policies, Mr Macron accused her of being a “climate sceptic” while Ms Le Pen replied that the president was a “climate hypocrite.” But while she ranted against renewable energy, lambasting wind power as “an ecological absurdity, an economic absurdity”, Mr Macron pointed to a massive hole in her energy policies: only relying on nuclear power would not be enough as new power plants will only come online in 2035.
Ms Le Pen probably thought she was on stronger ground when she attacked Mr Macron’s proposed pensions reform, which includes measures to raise the retirement age to 65, but again she had no answers when asked how her sums would add up. “You never explain how you would finance your projects. You are not honest with people,” Mr Macron said.
Even on Islam, one of her most defining issues, which she linked to “massive anarchic immigration”, headscarves, terrorism and security, simply gave Mr Macron a chance to accuse her of fearmongering. “You live on fear and resentment,” he said.
The gruelling duel ran on 20 minutes beyond the allotted 2.5 hours slot. While Ms Le Pen looked more comfortable than five years ago, she was still tense, and by the end, nervously avoided looking Mr Macron in the eyes. The president’s body language and voice, by contrast, were relaxed almost to the point of boredom: he watched her with pity, seemingly amused by how easy his opponent was making the contest.
In the 2017 election, Mr Macron won handsomely by 66 to 34 percent against Ms Le Pen. This time, the polls put them much closer, with the president leading by an average of around 10 percent. The debate will probably give him a slight bump: a poll by BFMTV of its viewers found Mr Macron won it by 59 percent to 39 percent. That could prove crucial: Ms Le Pen needed a clear victory to change the course of the election. But it wasn’t even close.
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https://inews.co.uk/news/world/french-presidential-debate-shows-le-pen-is-mightier-than-before-but-still-no-match-for-macron-1586150
| 2022-04-21T20:08:10Z
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Addressing party faithful in Owerri on Thursday, Obi urged them not to mortgage their future by allowing monetary and other material things to influence their choice of candidate in the delegate election.
Vote according to conscience, Peter Obi tells Imo PDP delegates
Mr Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra and presidential aspirant for the PDP ticket in the 2023 election, has advised party delegates in Imo to vote according to their conscience.
“Politicians will give you money during primaries, collect it and consider an aspirant who would change the country and make it better,” he said.
Obi, who said he was in Imo to canvass support for his presidential ambition, vowed to move Nigeria from what he called a consuming nation to a producing nation.
He said: “When I became the governor nobody handed over to me and I operated without Government House.
“I completely started from the scratch but when I handed over I didn’t owe any contractor, pensioners, and workers a dime.
“I have achieved such feat as an individual, as a governor and I can replicate it as a president of Nigeria, if given a chance.
Obi alleged “Everything that will make the country work is fastly collapsing. The country is functioning on consumption economy. The only solution to move the country forward is to have a formula for production because our country is not productive.”
The presidential hopeful urged delegates to take into consideration the future of Nigerian children and youths before making their choice.
He said a careful study of the country shows large divisions among Nigerians, promising to lead a united and secure Nigeria that would attract foreign investments.
“Today, when we wake up in Nigeria the only thing you here is killings and insecurity everywhere. There is no way you’ll not have problem when you have 35 per cent unemployment rate in the country,” he said.
Earlier, the state Chairman of the party, Mr Charles Ugwu, told Obi that his desire remains their wishes.
“We know your mission is to rebuild Nigeria. May God give you all you need to achieve that.
“God works with rejected stone. The Igbo people are that rejected stone and Obi is that Igbo son who is seeking to build a new Nigeria,” Ugwu said.
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https://www.pulse.ng/news/politics/vote-according-to-conscience-peter-obi-tells-imo-pdp-delegates/0fp8160
| 2022-04-21T20:10:00Z
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Eat more chicken: Another Chick-fil-A is on its way to Asheville
ASHEVILLE - Soon, chicken sandwich fans will be flocking to Brevard Road.
Chick-fil-A has proposed to open a new location at 970 Brevard Road in Asheville.
The plan is to demolish the former Ryan’s and build the fast-food chicken restaurant from scratch.
It’s a prime location for Chick-fil-A, at the corner of Ridgefield Boulevard near Asheville Outlets.
The new location is projected to be 4,595 square feet with a seating capacity of 84 people and will include double-drive-thru service.
An opening date has not been confirmed.
The Atlanta-based company, founded in 1967, is reported to have “more than 2,700 restaurants in 47 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Canada.”
Currently, there are four locations in Asheville and one in Arden.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
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https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2022/04/21/chick-fil-a-soon-have-brevard-road-location-asheville/7394476001/
| 2022-04-21T20:11:20Z
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BOISE, Idaho — It's no secret that housing and rent prices are out of control. The latest numbers from Zillow show they grew nearly 17% year-over-year in March.
Tram Hoang, the director of policy & research at the Housing Justice Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, says the crisis is not new to a lot of people.
"Yes there is a crisis in this moment, but there's always been a crisis and it's been decades in the making," Hoang said.
Rasheedah Phillips, the director of housing at Policy Link, believes renters are often forgotten when discussing housing.
"Prior to 2015, rent increases were outpacing income growth," she said. "We had a situation where medium rents increased 50% on average across the country— yet incomes remain flat and have declined for lower-income renters."
In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, where Hoang lives, things are finally changing for renters. There's a push for rent-control housing. Hoang's group refers to it as rent stabilization.
"We now have a very strong rent stabilization policy. It comes into effect on May 1 and I think it's our goal in St. Paul to share how we won with other cities because it's something that needs to exist across the country," Hoang said.
Rent control is when a city or state implements legislation that limits how much a landlord can charge and in most cases what percent the rent can be raised each year. T
California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and the District of Columbia have some localities that have adopted rent control laws. States like Illinois, Washington and Colorado currently have bans on rent control but there are efforts underway to change that.
A 2019 report by Policy Link, which advocates for rent control, showed if rent control is adopted by states nationwide, 42 million households could be stabilized.
"I'm from Portland, Oregon and I know that Oregon passed a rent stabilization policy statewide I think in 2019. But it was far too late, right? I had already been priced out of my home state," Hoang said.
While rent control might be a solution in some places, housing experts acknowledge it won't be a solution everywhere.
"Policy Link has also supported a lot of communities who are exploring tenant opportunities to purchase, community opportunity to purchase policies. Policies that will increase community ownership or local ownership of housing. Policies that take housing off of the private market, de-commodify and make it permanently affordable and longtime affordable for that community," Phillips said.
Leap Housing, in Boise Idaho, is an example of a boots-on-the-ground organization currently doing that very work. Bart Cochran, the CEO and founder, explains some nontraditional methods they are trying to meet the housing need in Boise.
"We're here today at Collster United Methodist Church in Northwest Boise, and the pastor would call it a weedy patch of grass at the rear of the parking lot that they've owned for over 100 years," Cochran said.
One project in the works includes partnering with churches to create housing opportunities.
"It just so happens that communities of faith are also some of the largest landholders in the city and not just land, but some of the largest excess landholders," Cochran said.
A third-party group is building affordable homes on the church's empty land and will be able to keep the mortgage price lower for all future owners.
"We believe that homeownership is the crown jewel of poverty alleviation. We just don't believe there is a great asset-building strategy for low-income households than homeownership," Cochran said.
"If you just geographically imagine our country, there are so many pockets in which no protections exist, we need a national agenda with baseline tenant protections," Hoang said.
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https://www.3newsnow.com/news/national/rent-control-is-gaining-momentum-but-it-wont-work-everywhere
| 2022-04-21T20:13:54Z
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| 2022-04-21T20:26:11Z
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Supreme Court allows exclusion of Puerto Rican residents from disability benefits
Supreme Court allows exclusion of Puerto Rican residents from disability benefits
Audio will be available later today.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can exclude residents of Puerto Rico from a federal program that aids low-income elderly and disabled people.
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https://www.npr.org/2022/04/21/1094119474/supreme-court-allows-exclusion-of-puerto-rican-residents-from-disability-benefit
| 2022-04-21T20:33:12Z
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https://www.npr.org/2022/04/21/1094119474/supreme-court-allows-exclusion-of-puerto-rican-residents-from-disability-benefit
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By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer
DALLAS (AP) — Airlines have banned several thousand passengers since the pandemic started for refusing to wear masks. Now they want most of those passengers back.
American, United and Delta have all indicated that they will lift the bans they imposed now that masks are optional on flights.
“We have talked to them individually,” United CEO Scott Kirby told NBC on Thursday. “Many of them assure us that now that the mask mandate is off, everything is going to be fine, and I trust that the vast majority of them will.”
American Airlines Chief Government Affairs Officer Nate Gatten told reporters that “in most cases,” people who were banned over masks will be allowed back.
“In cases where an incident may have started with face mask non-compliance and escalated into anything involving something more serious — certainly an assault on one of our team members or customers — those passengers … will never be allowed to travel with us again,” Gatten said.
Delta Air Lines spokesman Morgan Durrant said the airline will restore flying privileges after a case-by-case review and the customer’s understanding of expected behavior.
“Any further disregard for the policies that keep us all safe will result in placement on Delta’s permanent no-fly list,” he said.
Airlines have reported more than 7,000 incidents of disruptive passengers to the Federal Aviation Administration since the start of 2021, when unruliness aboard planes seemed to take off. More than two-thirds of those cases involved passengers who refused to wear a mask.
Several thousand passengers wound up on airline no-fly lists, although the exact number is unclear because American and Southwest have never disclosed how many people they banned.
Alaska Airlines said this week that banned passengers won’t be welcomed back. Southwest said a judge’s ruling that struck down the federal mandate won’t change its decision to bar an undisclosed number of passengers.
There have been enough twists this week in the mask-mandate story to make even a seasoned flyer a bit airsick. On Monday, a federal judge in Florida struck down the mandate, which dated to February 2021 and also covered public transportation including trains, subways and buses. She said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t follow proper rule-making procedures.
Within hours, most airlines rushed to make masks optional. When the Transportation Security Administration announced a few hours later that it wouldn’t enforce the rule, many — but not all — airports and public transit systems also made masks voluntary.
Late Wednesday, the Justice Department announced that it will appeal the Florida judge’s ruling. However, the Biden administration did not indicate whether it plans to seek an immediate stay of the ruling — which could allow the TSA to resume enforcing the mask rule.
In the meantime, the FAA’s acting administrator, Billy Nolen, said the agency is making its zero-tolerance policy against unruly passengers permanent. Under the policy, the FAA can seek fines without first issuing warnings to disruptive passengers.
Reaction has been mixed to the end of the mask mandate. On Monday, many passengers cheered when told in mid-flight that they could remove their masks. Other people took to social media to say they didn’t want to fly if other passengers were unmasked.
United’s Kirby and American’s chief commercial officer, Vasu Raja, said they have seen no indication yet that the demise of the rule is affecting ticket sales one way or the other.
Airline officials believe that any increase in customers happy over not needing a mask will be offset by people who choose not to fly because other passengers won’t be masked.
With the rule gone for now, airlines are training their lobbying efforts on eliminating the requirement that international travelers pass a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding a flight to the U.S. Airline officials believe that rule is making Americans hesitate to book international travel because they could be stranded away from home if they contract the virus on their trip.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2022-04-21T20:35:24Z
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By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday gave final passage to a bill that would dissolve Walt Disney World’s private government, handing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory in his feud with the entertainment giant over its opposition to a measure that critics have dubbed the “ Don’t Say Gay ” law.
The move could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks have transformed Orlando into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, and serves to further sour the relationship between the Republican-led government and a major political player in the state.
For DeSantis, the attack on Disney is his latest salvo in a culture war waged over policies involving race, gender and the coronavirus, battles that have made him one of the most popular GOP politicians in the country and a likely 2024 presidential candidate.
The dispute with Disney began with the company’s criticism of a new law barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade as well as instruction that is not “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”
In March, Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state and added that it would in turn support organizations working to oppose the new law. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then lashed out at Disney, and have defended the law as reasonable.
“Disney and other woke corporations won’t get away with peddling their unchecked pressure campaigns any longer,” DeSantis wrote in a fundraising pitch Wednesday. “If we want to keep the Democrat machine and their corporate lapdogs accountable, we have to stand together now.”
The bill passed by the legislature on Thursday would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure does allow for the districts to be reestablished, leaving an avenue to renegotiate its future. It now moves to DeSantis’ office to be signed into law.
Democrats have criticized the proposal as clear retaliation against the company and warned that local homeowners could get hit with big tax bills if they have to absorb bond debt from Disney — although such details are far from clear.
Disney is one of Florida’s biggest private employers, last year saying it had more than 60,000 workers in the state. It is not immediately clear how the company or local governments around its properties would be affected if the district was dissolved.
The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and the control it gave Disney over 27,000 acres (11,000 hectares) in Florida, was a crucial element in the company’s plans to build near Orlando in the 1960s. Company officials said they needed autonomy to plan a futuristic city along with the theme park. The city never materialized, however; instead, it morphed into the Epcot theme park.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/ap-news/2022/04/21/disney-self-government-in-peril-after-florida-house-vote-3/
| 2022-04-21T20:38:05Z
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https://sportspyder.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/articles/39238250
| 2022-04-21T20:42:13Z
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https://sportspyder.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/articles/39238250
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By MIKE CATALINI
Associated Press
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. (AP) — Michael Barrows wore his Grateful Dead T-shirt and Jerry Garcia face mask for opening day of recreational marijuana sales in New Jersey on Thursday, one of dozens of people who lined up before dawn to join the celebratory scene.
“It’s pretty amazing, exciting and if I get pulled over on the way home and I’m ever asked if I have any drugs in the car now I’m allowed to say only this,” Barrows said, holding up the canister of marijuana flower he had just purchased. Possession of cannabis is legal now in New Jersey, though driving under the influence is still prohibited.
Barrows, 60, joined a steady stream of other novelty seekers, longtime marijuana users and medical patients at RISE in Bloomfield, near the state’s biggest city, Newark, and not far from New York City.
With soul music blaring, free doughnuts in the parking lot, a steel drum and a balloon arch at the entrance, New Jersey’s cannabis kickoff for people 21 and older had the feel of a fair more than a store opening.
Hagan Seeley, 23, said he had just found out a day earlier that recreational sales were starting and decided to see what the scene looked like. He was impressed with the venue, decorated with an old train station-style tote board and long wooden tables featuring products under glass globes.
“It feels right. It feels safe. It feels like everything you’d want it to be rather than anything you could get anywhere else,” Seeley said.
The start of the recreational market comes a week after Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced that state regulators had cleared the way for recreational sales at seven “alternative treatment centers” that had already offered medical cannabis. The seven centers operate 13 facilities across the state.
Murphy, who has long backed recreational marijuana legalization and signed the bill the set up the marketplace, appeared at ZenLeaf in Elizabeth for its first day of recreational sales. The governor said he wouldn’t be trying any marijuana, saying earlier this week it’s not his “thing,” and that he prefers Scotch. Murphy said he would be pushing for a “federal fix” for marijuana as well, though it was unclear whether he was referring to recreational legalization, national decriminalization or something else.
Hadi Battice, 47, is a Navy veteran and medical marijuana card holder for his post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s a regular at ZenLeaf and said he’s never seen the location as busy as it was Thursday.
New Jersey’s recreational cannabis law gives priority status to people of color, a fact that will help knock down “brick walls” people faced for years during the war on drugs, Battice said. “It’s about time that minorities, people of color, Black people, brown people actually have a chance to get into the business.”
Charles Pfeiffer stood in line for about 2.5 hours and said he believed he was the first recreational customer to make a purchase at the ZenLeaf location. He cheered loudly and pumped his hands in the air when he was first let into the shop, situated in a shopping center beside a grocery store.
He bought cannabis flower and candy for about $140 and joked about how quickly he’d need to return to buy more.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said. “I’m kidding, probably within a week.”
New Jersey is among 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, with legalized recreational marijuana markets. Thirty-seven states, including New Jersey, have legalized medical marijuana.
New Jersey is first among its closest neighbors to begin recreational sales.
New York is moving forward with a recreational market but sales are not expected to start until the end of the year, state officials have said.
Neighboring Pennsylvania has medical cannabis but not recreational. Some cities, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, passed ordinances to decriminalize marijuana or make it a low law enforcement priority.
Legislation to permit recreational marijuana in Delaware was defeated in March.
Ben Kovler, of Green Thumb Industries, which operates the Bloomfield dispensary, was at the opening Thursday. He said he expects demand to grow since news of the start of sales had only been known by the public for a week.
“It’s a moment in time in American history where prohibition 2.0 is lifted,” he said before the opening.
To get regulatory approval, the facilities told regulators they would not interrupt access for medical marijuana patients.
Ziad Ghanem, of TerrAscend, said the centers would initially have a “narrower menu” for recreational users in order to accommodate patients.
The centers also are required to meet social equity standards, such as providing technical knowledge to new marijuana businesses, especially social equity applicants — those located in economically struggling parts of the state or people who have had cannabis-related offenses.
New Jersey’s tax revenues are expected to climb, but it’s not clear by how much. Murphy’s fiscal year 2023 budget is pending before the Legislature and estimates revenues of just $19 million in a nearly $49 billion budget. Murphy told reporters on Thursday he believes the industry could general hundreds of millions for the state.
Legislation governing the recreational market calls for the 6.625% sales tax to apply, with 70% of the proceeds going to areas disproportionately affected by marijuana-related arrests. Black residents were likelier — up to three times as much — to face marijuana charges than white residents. Towns can also levy a tax of up to 2%.
In a memo to law enforcement officers across the state, acting Attorney General Matt Platkin reminded police that unregulated marijuana continues to be an illegal substance.
State regulators say dispensaries are allowed to sell up to the equivalent of 1 ounce of cannabis, which means an ounce of dried flower, or 5 grams of concentrate or 1,000 milligrams of edibles, like gummies. Perishable items like cookies and brownies are not available.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/04/21/amazing-cannabis-sales-in-new-jersey-bring-excited-buyers/
| 2022-04-21T20:43:16Z
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/04/21/amazing-cannabis-sales-in-new-jersey-bring-excited-buyers/
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By BEN FINLEY
Associated Press
Attorneys for actor Amber Heard resumed their cross-examination of her ex-husband Johnny Depp in a Virginia courtroom on Thursday, taking aim at his alcohol and drug use as well as texts he sent to a friend about wanting to kill and defile his then-wife.
Heard’s attorneys are trying to derail Depp’s libel lawsuit against her after she wrote a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece that Depp says indirectly defamed him and ruined his lucrative acting career. In the article, Heard referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Depp has testified that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship and that he never physically or sexually assaulted her, despite her claims. Heard’s lawyers argue that Depp can’t deny what happened because he was often drunk and high on drugs to the point of blacking out.
Heard lawyer J. Benjamin Rottenborn focused on a 2013 text exchange between Depp and the actor Paul Bettany in which Depp said: “Let’s burn Amber!!!”
Bettany responded: “Having thought it through I don’t think we should burn Amber …”
Depp texted: “Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will (expletive) her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead.”
Depp has previously apologized to the jury for the vulgar language in the texts and said that “in the heat of the pain I was feeling, I went to dark places,”
Rottenborn also focused on another of Depp’s texts to Bettany in 2014 in which he referenced whiskey, pills and powders.
The texts were sent during a period in which Depp said he had stopped drinking. And they were sent around the time of a private flight from Boston to Los Angeles, during which Heard had said that Depp became blackout intoxicated and assaulted her.
Rottenborn presented texts that Depp sent to Bettany that said he drank “all night before I picked Amber up to fly to LA this past Sunday … Ugly, mate … No food for days … Powders … Half a bottle of Whiskey, a thousand red bull and vodkas, pills, 2 bottles of Champers on plane …”
Depp had previously testified that he took two oxycodone pills — an opiate to which he admits he was addicted at the time — and locked himself in the plane bathroom and fell asleep to avoid her badgering. He had also previously testified that he drank only a glass of Champagne as he boarded the plane.
To further bring doubt to Depp’s claim that he was not a problematic drinker at that time, Heard’s attorney then showed the jurors a text that Depp had sent to musician Patti Smith regarding a visit to New York City in 2014 in which he recounted fighting with Heard, getting drunk and being “so disappointed in myself.”
Depp has been on the stand in Fairfax County Circuit Court since Tuesday afternoon. The actor has spent much of that time describing the couple’s volatile relationship and denying that he ever abused Heard.
Depp said that Heard often violently attacked him. And he argued that his movie career suffered after she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post.
Heard never mentioned Depp by name in the article, but Depp’s lawyers said it was a clear reference to accusations Heard made when she sought a 2016 restraining order against him.
Depp said the accusations and the article contributed to an unfairly ruined reputation that made him a Hollywood pariah and cost him his role in the lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.
When cross-examination began late Wednesday afternoon, Rottenborn pointed to evidence that Disney made that decision months before the article’s publication.
Heard’s lawyers have argued that Heard’s opinion piece was accurate and did not defame him. They have said that Depp’s ruined reputation was due to his own bad behavior.
On the stand Tuesday, Depp called the accusations of drug addiction “grossly embellished,” though he acknowledged taking many drugs. He said his drug use started at age 11 when when he secretly took his mother’s “nerve pills.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/04/21/heards-lawyer-focuses-on-depps-texts-lets-burn-amber-2/
| 2022-04-21T20:45:29Z
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/04/21/heards-lawyer-focuses-on-depps-texts-lets-burn-amber-2/
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SACRAMENTO (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the California Lottery's "Daily 3 Midday" game were:
7-0-4
(seven, zero, four)
SACRAMENTO (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday afternoon's drawing of the California Lottery's "Daily 3 Midday" game were:
7-0-4
(seven, zero, four)
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https://www.theheraldreview.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-3-Midday-game-17117696.php
| 2022-04-21T20:47:25Z
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https://www.theheraldreview.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-3-Midday-game-17117696.php
| false
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States on Thursday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges in a dramatic reversal for a leader once touted by U.S. authorities as a key ally in the war on the drugs.
Just three months after leaving office, Hernández boarded an airplane handcuffed with agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration bound for the United States, where he faces charges in the Southern District of New York.
Hernández was arrested at his home in Tegucigalpa in February at the request of U.S. authorities. He was shackled and paraded in front of journalists, a sight many Hondurans never imagined seeing.
Honduran officials have said the three charges Hernández will face in the U.S. are conspiracy to import and distribute drugs to the United States, using firearms in support of a drug trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to use firearms in support of drug trafficking.
Honduras’ Supreme Court rejected his appeal of a judge’s decision in favor of extradition.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Hernández of fueling his political rise with money from drug traffickers. The payments were made in exchange for Honduran authorities allowing them to operate or for information allowing them to evade interdiction.
Hernández has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In a video message released Thursday, he said, “I am innocent; I have been and I am being unjustly subjected to prosecution.”
He has said he is the victim of drug traffickers he extradited who are now lying to seek revenge.
Hernández’s brother Tony Hernández, a former congressman, was sentenced to life in prison in the same U.S. court on essentially the same charges.
Juan Orlando Hernández took office in January 2014 and held the presidency until this January, when Xiomara Castro was sworn in as his replacement. Castro campaigned on rooting out Honduras’ corruption and Hernández was seen as the largest target.
Hernández’s transport via helicopter under heavy guard from the police base where he was held to the airport Thursday was covered live by local television outlets.
Some Hondurans stood outside the airport's perimeter fence to catch a glimpse of the former president boarding the plane with U.S. authorities.
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https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Honduras-ex-president-Hern-ndez-extradited-to-US-17117707.php
| 2022-04-21T20:49:30Z
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https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Honduras-ex-president-Hern-ndez-extradited-to-US-17117707.php
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WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, April 21, 2022
_____
HIGH WIND WATCH
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Amarillo TX
244 PM CDT Thu Apr 21 2022
...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON FRIDAY TO 1 AM CDT
SATURDAY...
* WHAT...South winds of 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph expected.
* WHERE...In Oklahoma, Beaver, Cimarron and Texas Counties. In
Texas, Dallam, Hansford, Hartley, Lipscomb, Ochiltree and Sherman
Counties.
* WHEN...From Noon Friday to 1 AM CDT Saturday.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines.
Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult,
especially for high profile vehicles.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Remain in the lower levels of your home during the windstorm, and
avoid windows. Watch for falling debris and tree limbs. Use caution
if you must drive.
...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON FRIDAY TO 1 AM CDT SATURDAY...
* WHAT...South winds of 35 mph expected.
* WHERE...A portion of the Panhandle of Texas.
* IMPACTS...Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree
limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high
profile vehicles. Use extra caution.
Secure outdoor objects.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-AMARILLO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17117580.php
| 2022-04-21T20:51:21Z
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https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-AMARILLO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17117580.php
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Kentucky abortion law blocked in win for clinics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a state law that effectively eliminated abortions in Kentucky after the state’s two remaining clinics said they couldn’t meet its requirements.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings was a victory for abortion rights advocates and a setback for the Republican-led legislature, which passed the law in March and then overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the measure last week. One of the clinics said Thursday that it would immediately resume abortion services.
The new law bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and requires women to be examined by a doctor before receiving abortion pills. It also contains new reporting requirements that the Kentucky clinics said they couldn’t immediately comply with. Noncompliance can result in stiff fines and felony penalties.
Jennings’ order did not delve into the larger issue of the new law’s constitutionality. Instead, it focused on the clinics’ claims that they’re unable to comply with the measure because the state hasn’t yet set up clear guidelines.
Jennings, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, said she decided to block the entire law because she lacked information “to specifically determine which individual provisions and subsections are capable of compliance.”
Abortion rights activists said they were relieved by the decision but noted more rounds are ahead in the legal fight.
“This is a win, but it is only the first step,” said Rebecca Gibron, the CEO for Planned Parenthood in Kentucky, where its clinic is immediately resuming abortion services. “We’re prepared to fight for our patients’ right to basic health in court and to continue doing everything in our power in ensure abortion access is permanently secured in Kentucky.”
Supporters say the goal of Kentucky’s new law is to protect women’s health and strengthen oversight. Opponents say the objective all along was to stop abortions in the state completely.
Kentucky is among the GOP-led states that have passed restrictive abortion laws in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established a right to abortion nationwide nearly 50 years ago.
Pending before the high court is a challenge to a law passed in a fifth state, Mississippi, that bans abortion after 15 weeks. The court has indicated that it will allow Mississippi’s ban to stand and conservative justices have suggested they support overruling Roe.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kbtx.com/2022/04/21/kentucky-abortion-law-blocked-win-clinics/
| 2022-04-21T20:54:22Z
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https://www.kbtx.com/2022/04/21/kentucky-abortion-law-blocked-win-clinics/
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The United States has one of the worst preterm birth rates in the world, and things are not getting better for women in communities of color.
According to March of Dimes, a leading nonprofit that works to improve the health of mothers and babies, preterm birth rates among Black women increased from 14.25% to 14.36% in 2021.
The number might not sound like much, but when compared to the declining overall preterm birth rate of 10.1%, it is significant.
“I’ve had eight babies and I have two living children,” said Ama Chandra Brown, a Black mother living in Baltimore. “I absolutely am present to the gift. What it means to have them, what it means to be in agreement with them, what it means to be a mama.”
In 2001, Brown endured her first pregnancy, and then another, and then another. It would take her until pregnancy No. 5 to successfully give birth to a baby boy, Tano, who is now 14.
A few years later, she gave birth to a set of twins, Maylee and her brother, who did not survive.
“That’s why they’re my master teachers. They keep me on my toes to be present and alive for the best,” said Brown.
Brown is among the many Black women in the United States who are 60% more likely to have a preterm birth than white women, according to March of Dimes.
“Our health and wellness are really less determined what happens in the doctor’s office, for the most part. It’s really determined by how we live,” said Stacey Stuart, president and CEO of March of Dimes.
According to several research organizations, racism and discrimination play a major role in the rising number of preterm births in communities of color. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health have found challenges in accessing health care and the stress from directly bigoted remarks account for nearly 40% of preterm births (37 weeks or earlier) and almost a third of very preterm births (32 weeks or earlier) among Black women.
“You see a deterioration in women’s health over time and poor birth outcomes as a result of that stress coming from racism and discrimination can have on a woman’s body, and that can cause her to have poor birth outcomes over time,” said Stuart.
The term is called maternal weathering, and according to the National Institutes of Health, "May accelerate aging that increases preterm delivery risk.”
Brown says it happened in every one of her pregnancies. Even though she has two healthy children now, Tano was born at 27 weeks and Maylee was born at 25 weeks. Brown says both experienced brain bleeds and had to be kept in the hospital months after being born.
“I know I’m not alone, but it’s an isolating journey,” said Brown. “[My children] solidified my journey into well-being, and knowing that I can do this and I have been doing it. We’re all in it together we’re a great trio.”
Last year, the Momnibus Act was introduced to Congress to address some of these inequities and provide more support to midwives and doulas in Black communities, but the bill was directed to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security for further studying.
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https://www.kbzk.com/news/national/black-women-are-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-have-a-preterm-birth-than-white-women
| 2022-04-21T20:56:48Z
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https://www.kbzk.com/news/national/black-women-are-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-have-a-preterm-birth-than-white-women
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