Twelve of the best student cybersecurity teams from around the world battled in the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition global finals Jan A team from Dakota State University (pictured) took first place in the hacking competition The world’s best cybersecurity students came together at Rochester Institute of Technology to face-off in the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC) global finals Jan The event wrapped up the largest offense-based cybersecurity competition for college students A team of Dakota State University students took home the top CPTC trophy University of Florida placed second and Penn State placed third “We screwed up bad last year and were able to make adjustments to redeem ourselves this year,” said Ryan Kleffman a captain from the Dakota State University team “Everyone on our team has a passion for cybersecurity and works hard even doing this cybersecurity outside of the classroom 12 teams used white hat hacking skills to break into fabricated computer networks The pentesting competition allows students to experience a day in the life of a penetration tester CPTC helps students build and hone the skills for a career in cybersecurity—an industry with a severe shortage of qualified professionals with students conducting a pentest for a mock company about to launch a new product “In today’s interconnected world, social media plays a pivotal role in our daily lives, influencing everything from personal interactions to global events,” said Justin Pelletier director of CPTC and director of RIT’s ESL GCI Cyber Range and Training Center. “As aspiring cybersecurity professionals understanding the complexities and security challenges of social media platforms is more important than ever.” One thing that makes CPTC unique is how the competition gives students experience working with technical and non-technical clients in a professional manner Professionalism—along with technical findings and reports—play a key role in scoring well Judges and sponsors from the security industry evaluated the performance of the competitors the organizers explored the potentials of IBM’s WatsonX as a form of decision support for the competition’s report scoring They also integrated other artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of the competition experience “There has been a lot of speculation that the future of our planet is going to be defined by humans and AI working together in teams,” said Pelletier “We see integrating world-class AI resources It’s great that we’re able to highlight these potentials to the world’s best cyber students.” The competition environment is run through RIT’s ESL Global Cybersecurity Institute (GCI) Cyber Range and Training Center which is capable of hosting more than 5,000 virtual machines for immersive scenarios Students also had the opportunity to meet experts an operator with IBM’s X-Force Red Adversary Simulation team served as keynote speaker at the competition and security audits to help improve the security of global Fortune 500 organizations by identifying gaps in current defenses and emulating threat actor techniques about 500 elite cybersecurity students from 63 schools gathered at regional events across the world The top 12 collegiate teams from regionals and wild card competitions were selected for the weekend-long CPTC global finals CPTC has become the premier offense-based collegiate computing security event, after starting at RIT 10 years ago. CPTC is a counterpart to the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), which is the premier defense-based event for college students. More information about CPTC is available on the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition website This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page We explore the growing threat of sabotage attacks across Europe and the technological tools used for financing and recruitment Host Tom Keatinge is joined by Dr Daniela Richterova Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London investigative journalists from the Baltic states to discuss Russia’s growing campaign of sabotage For further reading see Holger and Inga’s reporting and Daniela’s co-authored article for the RUSI Journal on the sabotage gig economy This podcast explores the financial dimensions of today’s leading transnational security challenges Host Tom Keatinge and the team from the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI bring you unique insights on the challenges posed by illicit finance and practical analysis of the policy responses They interview top thinkers and influential voices who unpack the complex world of money laundering and explain how this shapes the evolving global security landscape and what democracies and international institutions must do to stay ahead when it comes to the financial dimensions of the global threat outlook Play a part in shaping future responses to illicit finance by joining the CFS Partnership Forum. Find out more security and international affairs to help build a safer UK and a more secure Copyright 2025 | The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies | RUSI is registered as a charity in England and Wales - Charity number: 210639 | VAT number: GB752275038 Zachary Punt of Langford and Katherine Springer of Anoka MN are engaged and plan an October 2018 wedding in Alexandria Parents of the couple are Orlin & Amy Punt of Langford and Joel graduate from Northern State University in May 2018 with a Biology major and Biotechnology minor One of the major players in the field of project and collaborative journalism in the Baltics is the nonprofit Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism, Re:Baltica The project is based in the Latvian capital Riga but is also very much part of an international community of organizations devoted to investigative journalism The Baltic states in Northern Europe: Estonia When Re:Baltica was set up eight years ago it introduced two ideas that were then quite new to the practice of journalism in the region The nonprofit adopted a novel approach to the dissemination of journalistic work: The Center carries out research and creates a story then provides it to media organizations free of charge it adopted a new business model – one relying mainly on grants and donations Back in 2011 when EJO interviewed Re:Baltica co-founder Inga Springe doubts were expressed over two things: 1) Would they succeed in persuading newsrooms to collaborate and 2) Can nonprofit journalism survive in the long term it seems that both are possible: Media are increasingly prepared to collaborate and the project approach can be a successful business model The European Journalism Observatory recently spoke to Springe again and took the opportunity to ask her about the day-to-day work of a nonprofit media organization and the challenges it currently faces “We realized that we needed to present our content on a specific social media platform to reach the social media audience,” Springe explains She also notes that the Latvian media have become aware that people now exist in mutually exclusive information bubbles so there is nothing to lose from collaborating “I think the media have realized that we are living in a new market situation in which they don’t need to fight each other but instead need to mobilize against the big tech industry giants such as Facebook and Google,” she says “They are aware that the media need to join forces to survive this battle.” She also admits that in the last couple of years she has had to rethink many of her previous assumptions and that she has now adopted a new mindset: “Don’t blame your competitors She acknowledges that there is no point in blaming cute kitten videos for their popularity she says that journalists should analyze these videos and try to discover exactly what makes them so appealing to audiences the key to Re:Baltica’s success over the last few years has been its determined push to get to know its audience and provide it with specifically targeted information So we think about things that interest and are important to our donors Because of that we think hard about the audience for our stories and where and how best to address this audience.” For example, a recent project was devoted to domestic violence and was aimed at women who have actually experienced such abuse as they are the ones likely to be motivated to change things Re:Baltica collaborated with various professional and civic organizations and regional media outlets as well as with its regular media partners: the weekly magazine Ir It also offered the content to Latvijas Avīze – the largest daily newspaper in the country which tends to be more widely read outside the capital we thought about what might interest and help those who have suffered from domestic violence and realized that a common mistake media make when talking about this topic is to cover it mainly through horror stories,” Springe says “Those who have suffered from violence don’t need to be told what it’s like to be beaten up and how terrible it is as they know all about it from their own experience For them it’s more useful to know that there’s a way out and a better quality of life after that.” She says it’s important to take on board what your audience is telling you That people stop consuming media whose content is overwhelmingly negative.” Springe emphasizes that this is another reason to go beyond the usual “horror story” approach Re:Baltica’s business model is not dependent on advertising revenue or subscriptions but is instead based on several alternative income streams The largest part comes from grants and donations The journalists involved in the project also bring in money for it in the form of fees for educational work (such as giving talks on media literacy) in 2018 competitive grants made up 67% of the budget Springe briskly dismisses the suggestion that there is a danger the project could become too dependent on donors “Their values have never been in conflict with mine and the topics that interest them interest me as well,” she says all donors who give more than 4,999 euros have to sign an agreement saying that they agree to respect Re:Baltica’s editorial independence Nor is Springe concerned about the availability of funding She points out that in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis and the 2016 US presidential election there has been no shortage of funds available for organizations set up to combat misinformation and promote media literacy and she predicts that this situation is unlikely to change anytime soon She has ambitions for the further development of Re:Baltica’s fact-checking project Re:Check, and reveals that the organization has applied to become an official partner of the International Fact-Checking Network run by the Poynter Institute Achieving such a status would enable Re:Check to become an official Facebook fact-checker and might open up new horizons on the educational front as well Though Re:Baltica’s core staff is small – only three journalists work for the project full-time – Springe would dearly love to recruit an audience engagement and community building professional to the team Such a person would need to offer a mix of journalism and other skills – a combination not often found in the same individual “One thing I have come to realize is that we devote a lot of time to content creation but not enough to distribution,” Springe says She shares a crucial lesson she learned from attending a media management class: “The lecturer told us that typically if a journalist and an entrepreneur are both given 100,000 euros the journalist will spend all of it on research but the entrepreneur will spend at least 10–20% on marketing activities Re:Baltica and all similar such projects working in Eastern Europe suffer from the same problem: We are all great journalists Liga Ozolina is a PhD student in the Communication Management Program at Turiba University She was previously editor of the EJO’s Latvian-language site and has worked for Diena — a top Latvian daily newspapers — and for various online media outlets Her academic interests include entrepreneurial journalism Facing attacks and threats from politicians and partisan media the outlet has turned to innovative reporting formats to increase audience engagement and public interest in watchdog journalism GIJN member El Surtidor is a Paraguayan news organization created in 2015 that prioritizes innovation and multi-platform independent media site — La Maison des Reporters — was launched after a young journalist grew frustrated with his country’s mainstream news CORRECTIV boasts a €4 million annual budget and has become one of the world’s largest nonprofit centers for investigative journalism the outlet has delivered blockbuster investigations and trained aspiring journalists as well as staged plays and exhibitions inspired by current affairs that serve to bridge the gap between art and news Channelsreels-92925Reelsarrow-expand-92926Aaron Judge extends his on-base streak to 23 games Blue Jays @ YankeesApril 27 2025 | 00:00:25add-reel-92927Reelsshare-square-2-92928ShareAaron Judge ropes a long single off the right-field wall extending his on-base streak to 23 games and loading the bases in the bottom of the 3rd inning You can now search for over 3 million videos by player Use the search box to start your search with a player or a team and then use the filter panel to refine your results You can also start by selecting filters from the panel Videos can be embedded and shared directly from MLB.com Bienvenido a la nueva búsqueda de videos de MLB Ahora puede buscar más de 3 millones de videos por jugador Use el cuadro de búsqueda para comenzar su búsqueda con un jugador o un equipo y luego use el panel de filtro para refinar sus resultados También puede comenzar seleccionando filtros desde el panel Los videos se pueden insertar y compartir directamente desde MLB.com/es There was an error when executing your search Please refresh the page or try another query to get results If you are still having trouble, please describe your issue here and we will do our best to resolve it Por favor vuelva a cargar la página o intente con otros parámetros para obtener resultados Si aún así continua teneindo problemas, por favor descríbalo aquí y haremos todo lo posible por resolverlo It looks like there are no results for your search Please note that \\\"Play\\\" filters are only available after the 2015 season Videos from 2015 and prior can be searched by player Examples of \\\"Play\\\" filters:Hit ResultPitch ResultPitch Type\"},\"es\":{\"title\":\"¡Ponchado!\",\"body\":\"Aparentemente no hay resultados para tu búsqueda tenga en cuenta que los filtros de Play sólo están disponibles después de la temporada 2015 Los videos de 2015 y anteriores se pueden buscar por jugador There were no clips found for this selection Please refresh the page or try again later No se encontraron clips para esta selección Actualiza la página o vuelve a intentarlo más tarde This article and associated images are based on a poster originally authored by Steven D Nina Dedic and Ashley Barnes and presented at ELRIG Drug Discovery 2024 in affiliation with Axol Bioscience Ltd This poster is being hosted on this website in its raw form It has not undergone peer review but has been reviewed to meet AZoNetwork's editorial quality standards The information contained is for informational purposes only and should not be considered validated by independent peer assessment Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease are a leading cause of physical and cognitive disability affecting around 15% of the global population.1 With rising prevalence due to an aging population The cortex is a key area affected by NDD and is also a common site of drug-induced neurotoxicity (a leading cause of drug attrition); hence it is a major target for drug discovery.2 However the lack of physiologically relevant cortical models is a major challenge with traditional animal models failing to translate from "bench to clinic" and the low complexity afforded by simple cell culture and cell line models In partnership with Sumitomo Pharma America Axol Bioscience performed a blinded study testing eight reference compounds on an isogenic cortical tri-culture axoModel using an Axion multi-electrode array (MEA) system to measure electrophysiological response we demonstrate robust identification of the reference compound's mode of action validating this axoModel for use in human-relevant drug discovery and neurotoxicity screening axoCells™ isogenic human iPSC-derived cortical excitatory neurons [CENs and astrocytes [ax0665] were co-cultured on 48-well Axion Maestro MEA plates according to Axol’s user guide Cells were cultured from thaw for 26 days before compound treatment to allow full neuronal maturation and network formation recordings were taken 10 minutes pre-compound addition (baseline data and 60 minutes after compound addition (longer-term effects with a second and third dose added accumulatively Three concentrations of each compound were tested and the precise concentrations were specific to each All compounds had been blinded before shipment and were only unblinded after the final data analysis and written report 30 μL for the cell culture medium was removed and replaced with 30 μL medium containing 10x concentrated compound resulting in the desired final compound concentration All compounds and concentrations were tested at n=3-14 wells per compound The Axion Maestro MEA system was used to record 18 electrophysiological parameters including individual electrode spike parameters all parameters for each well were normalized to their R1 values This enabled the classification of each blinded compound into one of six groups and sub-groups based on their observed actions: Group 1 (“Little Effect”) showed minimal significantly different effects from the vehicle control Group 2 (“Activators”) induced an overall increase in activity This was further sub-divided into Group 2A (“Hyperpolarizing”: increased spike rate Group 2B –(“Excitatory”: increased spike rate and Group 2C (“Pro-convulsant”: increased spike rate and bursting Group 3 (“De-Activators”) produced an overall decrease in activity This was subdivided into Group 3A (“Blockers”: reduced neuronal activity and spike amplitude) and Group 3B (“Inhibitors”: decreased activity with unchanged spike amplitude) After the compounds were grouped and the final report submitted and the results were compared with their known pharmacology ICC shows expression of key markers for axoCells cortical excitatory neurons (CENs) cortical inhibitory interneurons (CINs) and astrocytes (A) axoCells iPSC-derived neural stem cells (NSCs ax0015) show expression of all standard NSC markers: FOXG1 (C) axoCells iPSCderived astrocytes (ax0665) express key astrocyte-specific markers (GFAP and S100B) and astrocyte-associated markers while showing very low levels of neuronal progenitor markers Nestin and MAP2 Monoculture: axoCells cortical excitatory neurons Co-culture: axoCells cortical neurons and cortical inhibitory interneurons  cortical inhibitory interneurons & astrocytes Axion MEA traces of axoCells CENs in monoculture in isogenic co-culture with axoCells CINs and in isogenic tri-culture with axoCells CINs & astrocytes The Axion MEA traces above show typical activities on DIV35 In monoculture (Top) the CENs fire frequently and spontaneously but with limited synchronicity The addition of CINs (Middle) markedly reduces firing rate but switches activity to a more regular synchronized burst firing pattern The addition of astrocytes (Bottom) increases both firing rate and spike amplitude while maintaining the regular synchronized burst firing seen in the co-culture model This shows the expected functional modulation with increasing model complexity demonstrating functional validation of the model. Image Credit: Image courtesy of Steven D Blinded compound screening on a cortical tri-culture axoModel with electrophysiological endpoints measured on the Axion Maestro MEA system. For more details on Axol Bioscience’s tri-culture protocol timeline (A) Example spike amplitude data for vehicle control and Compound 2 (a “Blocker”) (B) Example spike rate data for vehicle control Compound 1 (a “Hyperpolarizing Activator”) and Compound 4 (an “Inhibitor”) Statistical significance was assessed by two-way ANOVA (C) Heatmap of the monitored parameters on the Axion MEA for the blinded compound list with nine novel compounds of undefined action Each parameter was color-coded GREEN for Unchanged RED for Increased and BLUE for Decreased compared to the vehicle control. Image Credit: Image courtesy of Steven D Table of unblinded compounds showing almost perfect fidelity between model-based predicted action and actual action the actual reported action of the compound was compared to the predicted effect using the Axion Maestro MEA system The results demonstrated the alignment of the predicted and actual Group in 8 out of 8 compounds with the correct prediction of the Subgroup in 7 out of 8 compounds The client deemed these results to be a valuable neurological compound screening test system with future drug discovery and neurotoxicity screening applications. Image Credit: Image courtesy of Steven D a human iPSC-derived cortical tri-culture axoModel was used to correctly identify the effect of 8 compounds aligning 8 out of 8 Groups and 7 out of 8 Subgroups By incorporating human iPSC-derived cells into advanced in vitro platforms it is possible to produce human-relevant test models that could better recapitulate the complex in vivo interactions of the human cortex compared to the equivalent heterologous cell lines and animal models Although these experiments were carried out using cells derived from a single healthy control donor it is possible to incorporate lines derived from multiple donors and patients with NDDs to add further complexity and build disease-specific in vitro models for drug development Axol specializes in human cell culture Axol produces high quality human cell products and critical reagents such as media and growth supplements delivering epic support and innovating future products to help our customers advance faster in their research Our expertise includes reprogramming cells to iPSCs and then differentiating to various cell types We supply differentiated cells derived from healthy donors and patients of specific disease backgrounds we also take cells provided by customers (primary or iPSC) and then do the reprogramming (when necessary) and differentiation by offloading the burden of generating cells your time is freed up to focus on the research Axol holds the necessary licenses that are required to do iPSC work The European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) is a leading European not-for-profit organization that exists to provide outstanding scientific content to the life science community The foundation of the organization is based on the use and application of automation, robotics and instrumentation in life science laboratories we have evolved to respond to the needs of biopharma by developing scientific programmes that focus on cutting-edge research areas that have the potential to revolutionize drug discovery Comprised of a global community of over 12,000 life science professionals whether it be at one of our scientific conferences or one of our networking meetings will enable any of our community to exchange information within disciplines and across academic and biopharmaceutical organizations as all our events are free-of-charge to attend Our values are to always ensure the highest quality of content and that content will be made readily accessible to all and that we will always be an inclusive organization serving a diverse scientific network. In addition ELRIG will always be a volunteer led organization run by and for the life sciences community ELRIG is a company whose purpose is to bring the life science and drug discovery communities together to learn on an open access basis. We achieve this through the provision of world class conferences Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay Validation of a cortical tri-culture axoModel™ for in vitro compound screening: A blinded compound study 2025 from https://www.news-medical.net/health/Validation-of-a-cortical-tri-culture-axoModele284a2-for-in-vitro-compound-screening-A-blinded-compound-study.aspx "Validation of a cortical tri-culture axoModel™ for in vitro compound screening: A blinded compound study" <https://www.news-medical.net/health/Validation-of-a-cortical-tri-culture-axoModele284a2-for-in-vitro-compound-screening-A-blinded-compound-study.aspx> https://www.news-medical.net/health/Validation-of-a-cortical-tri-culture-axoModele284a2-for-in-vitro-compound-screening-A-blinded-compound-study.aspx Cancel reply to comment you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net please log into your AZoProfile account first Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content A few things you need to know before we start Read the full Terms & Conditions. Stewart reflected on the incident that led to her coming out on ‘Saturday Night Live’ I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Kristen Stewart has revealed how she decided to publicly come out after seeing Donald Trump’s tweets about her break-up with Robert Pattinson In February 2017, Stewart hosted Saturday Night Live and took the opportunity to shoot back at the then-President of the United States’s social media messages you’re probably really not going to like me now,” she said during her monologue In a new interview with Rolling Stone said the decision to come out on national television was a “very shoot-from-the-hip moment” She said that while sitting with a group of SNL writers someone brought up Trump’s tweets about her which accused her of cheating on her ex-boyfriend and encouraged him not to get back with her “He’s mad at me for cheating on my boyfriend?” she retorted “Little does he know...” She then decided to use the opportunity to come out Stewart added that she wasn’t surprised that Trump took the time to comment on her relationship “Of course he had to weigh in on my tarring and feathering ‘What is this 20-year-old who has no idea about life doing to this man?’” she said adding: “He’s such a little baby” and: “F*** you When Trump’s remarks about Stewart came out in 2012 it was after she was seen kissing Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders while she was still dating Pattinson Stewart said that she is tired of the interest in her relationship with Pattinson explaining: “Rob and I can’t just keep talking about that s*** It’s like if someone kept asking you – I mean for literally decades – ‘But senior year in high school?’ You’re like If you sign up to this service we will earn commission This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent Stewart has previously addressed speculation about her sexuality, pointing out that she was in a gay relationship prior to the SNL gig. “It wasn’t even like I was hiding,” she explained “I was so openly out with my girlfriend for years at that point Stewart has continued to be open about romantic relationships, as she’s been engaged to her partner, Dylan Meyer, since 2021. During an interview with Andy Cohen in October 2023, she opened up about her future wedding plans, revealing that Guy Fieri could be officiating the nuptials. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Stewart reflected on the incident that led to her coming out on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Subscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownA Report On Money Laundering At Latvian Banks Raises Questions About Conflict Of Interest At The Atlantic CouncilThe Atlantic Council allowed a senior fellow to write a report that said Latvia had made great strides in curbing money laundering The Washington-based Atlantic Council has long had a reputation of being tough on Russia and its shadowy expansionist foreign policy. The organization recently launched a website focused on Russian disinformation efforts and runs discussions on bolstering US alliance with countries in the Baltics and Eastern Europe a paper produced by a senior fellow at the council and commissioned by a member of the Atlantic Council’s board of directors raises questions about whether the council is being transparent about its affiliates’ links to organizations that might serve Russian interests The paper was written and made public in September by Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Anders Aslund, a prominent Swedish economist who lives in the United States Aslund argued that Latvia’s banks — long criticized as rife with money laundering much of which is thought to involve Russian clients — had made great strides in enforcing anti–money laundering statutes a website that collaborated with BuzzFeed News on this story that he was asked to write the paper by Sally Painter a longtime lobbyist for Latvia’s nonresident banks who was named to the Atlantic Council’s board in April 2017 Atlantic Council board member Sally Painter Aslund acknowledged in correspondence with BuzzFeed News that a consortium of Latvian banks paid him to write the paper Those banks included a subsidiary of ABLV Bank was trying to win permission to establish a branch in the United States after the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in February named ABLV as a bank of "primary money laundering concern." "FinCEN has reasonable grounds to believe that ABLV executives and employees have institutionalized money laundering as a pillar of the bank’s business practices," the Treasury Department said when it announced that its intention to prohibit ABLV from clearing dollar-denominated transactions through US banks "ABLV management permits the bank and its employees to orchestrate and engage in money laundering schemes; solicits the high risk shell company activity that enables the bank and its customers to launder funds; maintains inadequate controls over high-risk shell company accounts; and seeks to obstruct enforcement of Latvian anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rules in order to protect these business practices," the announcement said It added that some of that "illicit financial activity .. involved in North Korea’s procurement or export of ballistic missiles." The statement also singled out money laundering for "corrupt politically exposed persons," saying ABLV "has funneled billions of dollars in public corruption and asset stripping proceeds through shell company accounts ABLV failed to mitigate the risk stemming from these accounts which involved large-scale illicit activity connected to Azerbaijan Shortly after the FinCEN report was made public confirmed that one of the bank's subsidiaries "was involved in financing this report." The cover of Aslund's report on Latvian banking "It's not a secret that ABLV’s subsidiary has opened an office in US with a long-term goal to open the branch of the bank Aslund's report was presented in the Atlantic Council to tell about the achievements in Latvia's banking sector," Eglitis wrote in an email to Re:Baltica The paper was presented at a private event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington in October but it was not an official Atlantic Council publication and cannot be found on the Atlantic Council website though Aslund’s Atlantic Council affiliation is the first item noted in the paper’s explanation of its authorship Aslund did disclose the project to the Atlantic Council as fellows are required to disclose outside sources of income "I became aware that Anders was doing in a private capacity something with Sally Painter and Blue Star relating to the Latvian banks," Wilson said though he did not know the exact content of the paper as were the Latvian ambassador to the United States and Aivis Ronis "The report and my service to the Atlantic Council speak for themselves," Painter wrote in response to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News a media representative for the Atlantic Council said that neither Painter nor Aslund had broken council rules in commissioning and writing the report "This report was commissioned by a private entity as a private engagement and had no Atlantic Council involvement It was written and published outside the Council and without Council resources," she wrote in an email Asked whether ties to Latvian banking money hurt the Atlantic Council’s credibility director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a former ambassador to Ukraine "We have a body of work on Latvia with a very clear message which is: We want the country to be strong And we have done numerous events towards that end So the fact that someone associated with us does a report on the banking system that’s presented at the Atlantic Council in no way detracts from or diminishes the work we’ve done," he said "My credibility is built on a 25-year career Every Latvian politician has worked with and knows us," he said adding that "this was not a council product." A Blue Star Strategies representative also defended Painter’s role at the Atlantic Council saying it was unrelated to her lobbying on behalf of Latvian banks accused of laundering Russian money Painter has promoted transatlantic relations through her pro-bono service including her service with the Atlantic Council and through her work at Blue Star Strategies despite the scathing FinCEN report that came just months later while I was careful not to say they had done enough," Aslund told BuzzFeed News "Latvia no longer appears to be a significant concern for money laundering." It describes how Latvia has done so many different things to combat money laundering and how the situation has improved I do not pass any judgment on individual banks or to what extent the policy has eventually succeeded," Aslund wrote in a final email He did not answer an email asking how much he had been paid The Atlantic Council Defends Its Work With Latvia Subscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownA Former Aide To Two Of The Senate's Biggest Russia Hawks Is Pushing A Pro-Russia Party AbroadChristian Ferry who worked on the campaigns of Lindsey Graham and John McCain is now working with a pro-Russia party in the Baltic country of Latvia Lindsey Graham and John McCain is now working to help a leading Russia-friendly political party in upcoming parliamentary elections in Latvia a small EU nation that has been a fierce critic of the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy who worked as a campaign manager for Graham and a deputy campaign manager for McCain to provide him and his Harmony party with “strategic political advice and polling concerning the October elections,” Ferry told BuzzFeed News and Latvian investigative outlet Re:Baltica in an email Ušakovs has been mayor of Riga for nine years and his party holds the most seats in Latvia’s parliament But it has been shut out of national politics because of its perceived Kremlin-friendly position and Ušakovs’ ties with Moscow with other parties shying away from forming a coalition with them there are concerns that Ušakovs and his party have brought in an American face to smooth over the fact that they are pushing a pro-Russian position Asked to comment on Ferry’s work in Latvia Graham’s feelings on Russia and Putin are well-known.” Ferry has experience in the realm — he previously worked as a strategic consultant at Davis Manafort, the lobbying company of former Trump aide Paul Manafort and Rick Davis, and did work for Viktor Yanukovych the former president of Ukraine who was ousted in 2014 by a popular revolution and fled to Russia Ferry told BuzzFeed News in an email that he met Ušakovs in Washington “through a mutual friend David was aware of my successful work in Latin America and Mayor Ušakov’s admiration of my two former bosses John McCain and Lindsey Graham.” Ferry’s company has worked for the past two years as a lobbyist for the government of Panama Merkel did not respond to requests for comment Ušakovs also declined to comment for this story a former State Department employee and current senior fellow at the Atlantic Council declined to answer questions about Ušakovs’ controversial positions on Russia’s actions in Ukraine Ušakovs has walked a complex line in his position toward Latvia’s giant neighbor appealing to the country’s ethnic Russian minority and maintaining warm relations with Vladimir Putin’s government while at times voicing positions more in line with Latvia’s membership in the European Union and NATO had a cooperation agreement with Vladimir Putin’s party which he defended in the wake of the war in Ukraine as necessary to developing relations with Russia This has all been startling to a population wary of Russia and concerned over increased meddling around the region and the world who took over leadership of Harmony from a former high-ranking Soviet-era communist forming alliances with fellow European social democratic parties in Germany and Sweden (Forming those alliances prompted Harmony to end its agreement with United Russia.) Ferry said he is working with Ušakovs because of the new positions not his and his party’s long-term alignment with Russian interests “Being supportive of minority language rights does not equate to foreign alignment with that country," he said in an email Ušakovs has been at the forefront of pushing for Russian language rights inside Latvia — a key issue for the country’s Russian-speaking population which make up around 33% of Latvia’s 1.9 million people but one that is fraught for a Latvian population that is still reeling from decades of Soviet occupation Ušakovs is no stranger to Washington — he met both McCain and Graham during two separate trips to the US capital in 2017 designed to boost his pro-Western credentials he hosted a dinner at the DC restaurant Mirabelle for foreign policy specialists and thinkers characterized Ušakovs as an “an impressive guy and a central figure in Latvian politics.” Ušakovs used the event to highlight that he is pro-Western “He said that because he is so pro-Western he has alienated some of his constituents and sometimes has to moderate his public opinions,” the attendee said Ušakovs also said that he is creating a party that is above nationality divisions “I am aware that some people have great doubts about him and they think Ušakovs is a Trojan horse for Russia,” the attendee said “But I must say he made a very good case for him He did not make arguments that made me suspicious or uncomfortable.” The last week of April marked the end of the Axel Springe Earth Week We ended the week with the 7-day Step Challenge collecting a whopping 6.4 million steps for us We counted a total of over 190 participants from a wide variety of Axel Springer units who took part in the Step Challenge and various Earth Week events The last week of April marked the end of the Axel Springer Earth Week A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated and joined us in raising awareness about sustainability and our climate we are moving forward in the fight against climate change To stay informed about current sustainability initiatives, we invite you to join our Sustainability Community on Microsoft Teams Below is a recap of the Earth Week 2023 activities and events Earth Week kicked off with two exciting keynotes: “Sustainability in Action: Axel Springer’s Inspiring Initiatives” by the Sustainability Team and “From Awareness to Action: Taking Steps Toward a Sustainable Future” with Philippe Singer from Leaders for Climate Action participants got to know the challenge of the day: Calculating your own ecological footprint Together we walked for the climate and collected 6,4 Mio steps To increase the green impact of this challenge the emissions saved by walking will be calculated and the number of trees that would be needed to offset them will be planted we learned directly from our sustainability experts what topics they are currently working on The panel discussion was dedicated to two exciting topics: Are our sustainability departments working on the right topics? And what are good tips for living more sustainably Together we watched and discussed two short films by TED and in a nutshell about the current situation and future prospects of climate change The focus was on the questions of whether it can still be stopped (spoiler: yes it can!) and what could be important approaches to solving the climate crisis Both films provided a thought-provoking and insightful look at the effects of climate change and the actions we can take to combat them We ended Earth Day together with after-work drinks food and entertainment were not to be missed the participants of our Day Challenge shared their new insights with us and won a prize addressed the issue of climate-neutral nutrition This presentation demonstrated important and effective steps on how to make your own diet more ecological The CO2-neutral B2B2C conference revolved around ecologically sustainable topics and formed a highlight in the context of the WELT EARTH WEEK 🌱 The green transformation in times of geopolitical change 🌱 Is the energy transition just getting started?  🌱 Cars trains and bicycles – how will the transport of the future be green 🌱 Between shopping frenzy and renunciation – how will our consumption become more sustainable high CO2 emissions – how can we achieve the energy and heat turnaround in construction and housing?🌱 Taking climate action did not stop after Earth Week. Together with colleagues from Bonial Axel Springer danced into May with the wirBerlin initiative while doing something good for the environment we embarked on a mission to clean up Treptower Park and to make it fit for spring and summer a_inside publishes the email sent by Mathias Döpfner to all employees on the occasion of the closing of the transaction with KKR and CPP Investments: Kati Degenhardt has been leading the departments "Life & Society" as well as "Science & Research" at BILD for a year and a half and has initiated numerous projects during this time including the BILD Health Summits (BILD-Gesundheitsgipfel) Ahead of the second BILD Heart Summit on April 2 she provides insights into her work: How does she and her team advance the topics of health and science at BILD What challenges does she face in the process And what is her vision to not only inform readers but also actively encourage them to lead healthier lives She also explains why health is a true matter of the heart for BILD A behind-the-scenes look at a department that not only informs but also drives change searching for the right charts for a presentation—it all takes time that’s now a thing of the past for PRO+ users The tool goes far beyond basic summarization making EMARKETER’s vast library of marketing What exactly makes it work — and how it stands out from other tools—is explained by Matthias Braun And what’s actually being served in the canteens around the government quarter POLITICO Germany’s Berlin Playbook has been answering these questions and more—sharp and landing in inboxes every morning at 7 a.m the daily newsletter has become an essential read in the German political landscape have been undergoing their journalism training at the Axel Springer Academy of Journalism & Technology since July 2024 they offer insights into their experiences with digital media transformation and share their views on journalism and the opportunities that come with new technologies Transparency and traceability are of utmost importance to us we are pleased to publish our methodology for calculating our CO₂ emissions we outline how we capture emissions across different scopes and the calculation principles underlying our analysis we aim to provide our stakeholders with comprehensive insight into our approach and foster an open dialogue on sustainability Bell receives life in murder of Tia Hutson Illegal dumping continues at Bowie Mission Bowie finance director warns about shortfall in water department Bowie ISD approves all offered educator contracts Gold-Burg graduate earns MSU’s top academic honor BHS junior qualifies for state theatrical design contest sheriff investigate one possible suicide threat and one man who allegedly assaulted woman in a car 26 THROUGH A CRIME STOPPER’S TIP/Jessica Bishop sought by sheriff’s office Sheriff’s deputies investigate UTV theft Making AI Simple workshop draws large crowd Add this superfruit to your menu for heart-healthy meals President unveils plan to open up America again Sunset area virus patient dies late Friday afternoon One new positive case reported today at Ringgold Abbott announces $38 million in federal COVID-19 emergency funds for local governments Positive virus cases rise to five; 1 positive can’t be found Saint Jo softball loses to Knox City 21-7 in the playoffs Lady Indians fall in the bi-district to Windthorst Rockin’ It: Residents embracing ‘nice’ rock phenomenon Summer food program available for children Country music star children perform in Bowie ‘Moana’ surfs in for outdoor flick Bowie finally earns ‘World’s Largest Bowie Knife” record from Guinness Bowie City Council argues if rate ordinance ‘revenue neutral’ Bowie Council to have second reading of rate ordinances Tuesday BBB campaign wins first for community service Look back at 2008-2009 Bowie girls basketball team Looking back at pre-season expectations for 2017-2018 Bowie boys basketball Looking back at the 1958 Centennial edition of The Bowie News The first “official” day of Spring arrives March 20 sparking the anticipation of gardeners farmers and ranchers who look forward to sunshine and warmth.In the northern hemisphere spring will arrive at 5:24 p.m on March 20 with the arrival of the spring equinox the season on paper may differ from the actual forecast which the Farmer’s Almanac predicts may take its time in arriving and weather.com agrees.According to the long-range outlook in fact unseasonably cold temperatures may have their grip on parts of the nation shivery spring ahead,” states the almanac’s forecast Weather.com forecasts March-May to be warmer than usual from the Southwest to the Southeast.It continues it will be a wet and cool season for most places in the southwest temperatures will be rising quickly Spring will be “unusually active” over the nation’s heartland with frequent heavy to severe thunderstorms predicted Read the full story on what spring may bring in your weekend Bowie News including forecasts for rain and temperatures the future of cattle and planning your garden Process to find a new 97th judge is underway in governor’s office Bowie fire and police emergency personnel responded to this structure fire call around 10:30 a.m No details were available at this time on a possible cause possibly from trash inside the station or inside a vehicle was found guilty of the murder of Tia Hutson also of Saint Jo after less than an hour of jury deliberation Thursday afternoon She was found beaten and raped in her home in August 2022 and six days later never regaining consciousness The jury also deliberated Bell’s sentence giving him the maximum life in prison and a $10,000 find It took them less than half an hour to make the decision A deadly finding also determined a large flashlight was used as a deadly weapon As the jury left the courtroom some members were seen hugging Trevor Riley read a powerful victim’s statement to the court Staff and volunteers at the Bowie Mission continue to be plagued by people who dump their unwanted furniture and other items at their gates and doors Despite having signs stating this is illegal and that there are surveillance cameras on scene This past week several large pieces of furniture were dumped right in front of the gate where the trailer used to go pick up food bank items is stored director said most of the volunteers are older and it is difficult to get these large items moved out of the way She is at her wit’s end trying to get people to stop dumping and while she hesitates to file police charges the situation is getting untenable as people continue to violate the policy Anyone who observes illegal dumping at the mission is urged to call the police 872-2251 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona Murder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death Bowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight Driver stopped by a man running into the street Stories you've missed since your last login: Recommended stories based on your interests: A gray wolf walks in its enclosure in a wildlife park in Springe The Outdoor Channel has joined a movement to stop grey wolves from being reintroduced to Colorado Colorado's Stop the Wolf Coalition is campaigning against Initiative 107 whose backers are currently seeking signatures to qualify for the 2020 November ballot would reintroduce between 20 and 30 wolves to the Western Slope by 2023 The full text of the proposed ballot measure can be found by clicking here Outdoor Channel has come out against the initiative due to concern over the reduction of moose “It's going to take all of us working together to stop these forced wolf extremists and their out-of-state money from turning our beautiful state into the killing grounds for a dangerous apex predator," said Outdoor Channel CEO Jim Liberatore in the release The Wolf Action Fund says the bill will actually restore ecosystemic balance “It’s important that we reunite the path of wolf movement from [the] north to south [borders] because with movement you have integration which is good for ecological health,” said Rick Ridder “It all ties into: Let’s keep Colorado wild and let’s try to keep what we love about Colorado and our mountains for our children and grandchildren.” That's a question voters could be asked next year Add the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union to those who don't want wolves reintroduced to Colorado… the last confirmed Colorado wolf sightings were near Walden in 2015 The last wolf was killed in Colorado in the 1940s A proposed 2020 ballot measure touted by wolf activists is an attempt to force the release o… Backers of reintroducing wolves are circulating petitions to place Initiative 107 on the state's ballot It is the third ballot measure voters will decide in next November's general election Email notifications are only sent once a day Colorado Politics is published both in print and online Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily designed for public policy arena professionals Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper containing outstanding features and news stories Secure your subscription to Colorado’s premier political news journal You can be in the know right alongside Colorado’s political insiders Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Center for Public Integrity cigarette smuggling is seen by organized crime groups as a low-risk No wonder then that Europol now estimates the crime costs European Union nations around $12 billion each year and expects even more smuggling in the coming years In recent years, according to Europol’s 2011 Organized Crime Threat Assessment EU nations have seen three predominant forms of cigarette smuggling: the smuggling of genuine cigarettes; the covert manufacturing and smuggling of “cheap whites”; and the sale of faked commercial brands mainly from China and the former Soviet states there is a robust trade – via the Baltic Sea region – of genuine low-cost cigarettes produced in Russia Ukraine and Moldova and targeted for western countries with high tobacco taxes the world’s leading tobacco products producer remains the largest source of contraband tobacco Knock-off brands of cigarettes such as Chinese-made Marlboro arrive in European Union nations via ocean transports that stop at ports This is because it’s now easier for clandestine and low-cost manufacturers to import raw tobacco rather than a container of more conspicuous packaged cigarettes illegal factories in EU states such as Poland and some Baltic States Europol warns that “cheaper and smuggled products also constitute a marked threat to EU efforts on tobacco control and by extension the objective of reducing consumption.” The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit investigative news organization focused on inequality in the U.S We do not accept advertising or charge people to read our work This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License Sixty children ages 4 to 12 were covered in mud Saturday at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center tackled pint-size obstacles and waded through water as part of the inaugural Serious Fun Mud Run The event was so popular the Discovery Center had to add an additional day Sixty more children will take the challenge Sunday “It really is to keep kids outside and get them interested in a new activity,” said Margaret Hennessey Springe director of education for the Discovery Center wound through the center’s outside activity area was covered in mud after her turn on the course said she saw information on the run on Facebook and thought it would be fun Children took turns — youngest to oldest — running through the muddy course struck a pose in front of the finish line so her family members could take photographs said she does mud runs about four times per year The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center was one of 47 organizations throughout the United States to receive a grant from The North Face The grant allowed the center to have the Mud Run The North Face introduced the Explore Fund campaign in 2010 as part of its mission to start a global movement of outdoor exploration It has since provided more than $1.5 million in grants to more than 300 nonprofit organizations This is the second grant the Discovery Center received from The North Face The first grant helped expand the center’s outdoor adventure area The Discovery Center partnered with Makin’ Moves and Edible Arrangements to host the Mud Run Topeka firefighters helped hose mud off of participants at the end of the course Channelsreels-84213Reelsarrow-expand-84214Marcus Semien's 44th homerYankees @ Blue JaysSeptember 29 2021 | 00:00:37add-reel-84215Reelsshare-square-2-84216ShareMarcus Semien belts a two-run homer to left field for his 44th long ball of the season the most ever by a second baseman in AL/NL history A project of IJNet asked a variety of participants at World Press Freedom day to define what press freedom means to them The answers ranged from working without fear of government reprisal to helping support democratic freedoms and institutions Others talked of avoiding bias and being objective "Press freedom should be related to informing people rather than forming opinions We should just provide information rather than just formulating opinions people do have insecurities about what they can say openly They have to think about it before they talk about it but hopefully there are steps to be taken in the direction where we can have press freedom but we suffered from very heavy financial crises in 2008 and 2009 and we can still feel this in the media field The average income from ads dropped down 40 percent you have media freedom in Latvia if you have money." Fulbright/Humphrey fellow at the University of Maryland "Press freedom is a right of an individual to report objectively and if people have chosen to be professional in the field of journalism they owe the obligation to society to report the news to them as objectively as possible So whatever stops that from happening is a deterrent to the freedom of press Press freedom is to be able to overcome all of those obstacles that could stifle the free flow of objective reporting." It’s an amazing opportunity for us to put more attention on the situation we have to endure.” an activist with the pro-democracy organization The organization tries to bridge the gap among community groups in Vietnam and promote press freedom “[Press freedom is] the basis of all democratic freedoms no political freedom exists… Our current government has started making aggressive proposals to abridge our freedom of expression … We are very fearful at the moment that some very bad laws are going to be introduced We are somewhat understandably disillusioned that this government that has been so open is now backtracking.“ a press freedom activist based in Johannesburg She said she helps African journalists fight for press freedom “I think we are still far away from when press freedom becomes a fact of life and is respected [in Iran] A lot of news agencies in the West take press freedom for granted … These events are a reminder that press freedom is something that we are really still fighting for This means that you have to value what you have.” a Nieman fellow and correspondent for the New York Times in Iran -You can read more of IJNet's ongoing coverage of World Press Freedom Day here After a group of teenagers spent almost a year raising money toward a summer trip mixing cement and making bricks in a village in Haiti The students’ labor will go toward construction of a school for the village The project is part of the international volunteer program buildOn the group of nine students hope to leave the villagers with much more than just a building “It’s not just us going in and building them a school,” said 15-year-old Maddy Johnson who helped organize the student-led effort “The village has been working just as hard as we have to get prepared for us coming: they signed contracts The group will travel to Haiti next month along with an adult sponsor who teaches English at Southwest Middle School Nitz had many of the students in her class at Southwest and said she remembers them as a unique group the school will offer adult literacy programs who is a sophomore at Free State High School said coordination with the villagers is vital to ensuring the school plays a role in the community in years to come “I feel like there’s a lot of well-intending Americans that go in somewhere and build a building and leave and then it kind of doesn’t get used or reach its full potential to really help the people they’re trying to help,” Johnson said but it doesn’t always end up the way they want it to.” The students raised about $38,500 in all for the project $24,000 will go toward construction and programming at the school The rest will cover the students’ travel expenses Most of the money raised was done in small increments “We didn’t have anyone that came and gave us $1,000 or a couple thousand,” Johnson explained “A lot of it was like teachers donating $10 just a lot of small things that really added up.” Despite their enthusiasm about the project Nitz said when the students came to her with the idea she was worried they didn’t realize how difficult it would be to raise so much money Nitz said she thinks their effort over the past year will be integral to the experience “I think the raising of the money and then actually going to see how it’s going to come together and helping in that process is going to be so meaningful to those kids,” Nitz said the group will stay in homes of different village members as they work on building the school staff with the buildOn program will continue to work with villagers until the school is completed said she is looking forward to working closely with the villagers “It’s going to be a really immersive experience of sitting in their house cooking meals with them and just learning about these people,” Walther said “We have such different lives.” The group will leave for Haiti June 23 and will be there for about 10 days to prepare materials and build the foundation of the school The latest headlines from the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of Kansas, LLC | https://www2.ljworld.com | 1035 N. Third Street, Lawrence, KS 66044 | 785-843-1000 | Terms of Service According to the official NBA injury report Springer is dealing with lower back soreness The Jazz have listed the young defensive standout as questionable to play at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday Jaden Springer (back) questionable for Sunday The last time Springer took the floor was on March 3 when the Jazz hosted the Detroit Pistons Springer came off the bench for 14 minutes He went 0-2 from the field and registered three rebounds In matchups against the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors Utah took losses in both matchups and entered Sunday’s action against the Sixers on a four-game losing streak His tenure with the Boston Celtics ended at the trade deadline Although Springer was initially moved to the Houston Rockets The former first-round pick found an opportunity to join a team that matched his timeline better USA; Utah Jazz guard Jaden Springer (44) looks for a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Delta Center Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn ImagesAt 19 years old Springer entered an unfavorable situation in Philly as he was a developmental prospect on a playoff-contending team He appeared in just 50 games with the Sixers across three seasons the Sixers traded Springer to the Celtics at the trade deadline There’s a chance Springer could see his former team once again while donning his Utah threads The Sixers and the Jazz will tip off at 7:30 PM ET Nick Nurse’s Injury Update on Eric Gordon Sixers Add Lonnie Walker IV to Roster Former Alabama Basketball Player Reacts to Joining the Sixers NBA Analyst’s Blunt Take on 76ers’ Playoff Aspirations Former Sixer Speaks on Recent Paul George Criticism The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit If you or someone you know has a gambling problem crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER Children are already starving to death in Yemen where experts have warned of the "worst famine the world has seen in decades." Amidst the world's largest humanitarian crisis, an estimated 2.3 million children under five in Yemen are expected to go hungry or be on the brink of starvation by the end of 2021.  marking just one more way that Yemeni children are paying with their lives in a crisis they have no part in creating For every child killed by bombs and bullets dozens of children are starving to death and it’s entirely preventable.  "The world must not accept that children continue to die from hunger Save the Children's Country Director for Yemen "Hunger in Yemen is an entirely human-made legacy of this war and the increase in child malnutrition levels around conflict lines shows the impact of this brutal conflict on children." Claire Nicoll works for the Humanitarian Operations Team at Save the Children mothers and fathers whose stories have stayed with her we visited a health facility in rural Hajjah but there were still dozens of families waiting to see the doctor In a country with a crippled health system these facilities represent a desperately needed lifeline I met 18-month-old Leila* and her mother Rayah*, and their story is one that I know will stay with me. Leila is suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition – the deadliest form of extreme hunger that can easily claim the lives of young children. In Yemen When Rayah took Leila’s shirt off to be examined I was shocked at how painfully thin she was Credit(Photographer)Mohammed Awadh / Save the ChildrenA mother holds the legs of her 13-month-old child who is severely malnourished.  This is the question that Rayah asked when telling me about how the brutal four-year conflict has impacted her life It shows the impossible choices many mothers in Yemen face every day She didn’t take Leila to the health facility earlier as the transport costs would have left her with no money to feed her other children hasn’t been paid in months and the family has survived on bread and tea – with tomatoes as an occasional treat – for two years She told me in a matter-of-fact tone that cancer was easier to bear Nobody I spoke to could remember eating fish or meat in the last year Most of the mothers were skipping meals or even starving themselves just to feed their children and many of them had become dangerously malnourished themselves They told me how their lives keep getting harder, how the conflict has robbed them of the ability to care for their own children. Obstructions on food imports and rocketing food prices have forced them to watch their children waste away Save the Children recently found that some 85,000 children under 5 in Yemen may have died because of extreme hunger since the war began Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop Now I can’t stop thinking about how many of the children I met are in this number Rayah said she used to have big dreams for the future The existence of health facilities like the one I visited drastically improve Leila’s chances and there are many children who are alive because of the work that our teams do But ultimately the conflict needs to end to ensure that children can survive One child dying from starvation in Yemen is one child too many A man-made famine in Yemen is looming. Food prices are now up to 200% higher than they were prior to the conflict More than 16 million people in Yemen are already skipping meals nearly every day because they simply have no other choice The crisis has only been made worse by recently announced aid cuts long-standing restrictions on humanitarian access attacks on civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals and active fighting in heavily populated areas “If the UN’s predictions are correct," said Janti Soeripto President and CEO of Save the Children, "the worst famine in decades could kill hundreds of thousands of children We must do everything we can to prevent this from happening.”  Save the Children has been responding to the crisis in Yemen since 2015. Despite the hunger, the poverty and the bombs, we will continue to fight for Yemen’s children. Learn more about our work in Yemen. Sign Up & Stay Connected By providing my mobile phone number, I agree to receive recurring text messages from Save the Children (48188) and phone calls with opportunities to donate and ways to engage in our mission to support children around the world. Text STOP to opt-out, HELP for info. Message & data rates may apply. View our Privacy Policy at savethechildren.org/privacy. An organization you can trustWhen you give, 85% of every dollar goes straight to our mission. Find out more Contact Us 501 Kings Highway East, Suite 400, Fairfield, CT 06825 Main Office # 203.221.4000 | Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm ESTDonor Services # 1.800.728.3843 | Mon-Fri 8:00am-5:00pm EST Report fraud, abuse, wrongdoingSafeguarding Our website has a lot of features which will not display correctly without Javascript Here how you can do it: http://enable-javascript.com Representatives from Lawrence High’s winter sports Some Lawrence High winter sports teams will enter the season with state-title aspirations and others hope to give younger athletes a chance to step into the spotlight Here is a look at all of the Lions’ winter sports programs opening play this week: Lawrence High’s boys basketball players have high expectations for themselves this year returning seven players from last year’s varsity rotation when the Lions went 17-5 and earned a trip to the sub-state title game They’ve also earned high expectations from others 1 preseason ranking in the Kansas coaches poll The Lions boast one of the best backcourts in the state senior John Barbee and senior Ben Rajewski Roberts and Barbee all averaged more than 10 points per game last season Fifth-year coach Mike Lewis also has some solid post players with junior Price Morgan junior Fred Brou and senior Logan Applegate The Lions have dedicated the upcoming season to former assistant coach Kermit Aldridge They will open the season against Emporia at 7 p.m It’s going to be a new era for Lawrence’s girls basketball team The Lions only return one full-time starter from last year “We have our work cut out for us,” said Dickson who led Shawnee Mission Northwest to a state tournament berth last season “We have to change the culture of the basketball program and get our kids to understand that we have to make a bigger and more meaningful commitment to working hard and buying in.” the Lions hope to get consistent play from sophomore shooting guard Skylar Drum They also hope freshman guard E’lease Stafford can help the team improve from last season’s 6-15 record “Our kids went from normally doing little to nothing in the summer to going to several team camps and working four to five days a week to improve our fundamental skills and come together as a program,” Dickson said “We had great leadership from senior Marissa Pope and although we didn’t win many games this summer we did get out and compete and work.” The Lions will face Emporia in their season opener at 5:30 p.m Lawrence’s boys swimming and diving team doesn’t have many seniors but ninth-year coach Kent McDonald hopes to see big strides from his team this season who finished eighth in the Sunflower League and 16th at state last year “We have some new swimmers who will have an immediate impact and our returners should continue to improve and place well for us,” McDonald said with more swimmers and divers contributing to the team.” Some of those newcomers expected to contribute include Alex Heckman What’s going to be the biggest challenge for the Lions early in the year “Getting our swimmers into shape while learning good swimming technique,” McDonald said It’s not necessarily a rebuilding year but Lawrence High’s wrestling team will have a ton of youth in its lineup this season After taking fifth in the Sunflower League and 10th at state Clothier is the defending state champion at 182 pounds LHS returns 12 wrestlers from last year and brings in 17 newcomers There are several freshmen who will have a chance to earn a regular spot in the team’s lineup “It will be a fun and exciting season with all of our youth,” eighth-year coach Pat Naughton said LHS starts on Saturday in the Leavenworth tournament at 9 a.m the spring sports season entered its final month as some sports are rapidly approaching the .. Welcome to the latest edition of True Romance We've got another fun ride in store for you according to a producer who worked with him the host was having a lot of fun off-camera during the show's 27-year run The man was a legend in more ways than one and knew all about filling his life with romance We also take a look at a couple who successfully saved their marriage through swinging Who knew that the practice had marriage-saving potential Jerry Springer and the marriage saved through swinging sets the table for a woman's secret affair with her boyfriend's dad An affair that she's addicted to.  Jerry Springer is back making headlines almost two years after his death at the age of 79. The attention has returned to the former politician turned broadcaster thanks to the Netflix documentary Jerry Springer: Fights it's definitely on the list of things to watch but according to a former producer on the show the doc doesn’t begin to cover what really happened Norm Lubow became a producer on the show after appearing on it six times himself. He told The Sun some of the real story that the documentary only glances over Jerry Springer was living like a rock star when it came to the ladies He described part of his job as being a "pimp" for the host of the hit show 25th Season Spectacular -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) He would find attractive female guests who would appear on the show and then allegedly sleep with Springer after the show This isn’t all that hard to believe given when he was a politician in the 70s in Cincinnati he admitted to paying prostitutes with personal checks And who could forget the time he was caught on camera having a threesome with a guest of the show, porn star Kendra Jade, and her stepmom? That is covered briefly in the Netflix doc as a one-time incident but that's not the case according to Lubow That was allegedly standard operating behavior for Springer The former producer recalled the first thing the host said to him after hiring him and another guy to be producers on the show "When we were first hired Jerry came out to meet us in LA and picked us up in a limo it wasn't just about getting guests for the show That was part of their job and helped them move up the ladder "We found him women who were happy to do double duty come on the show and look after Jerry after filming I realized right away that the most important thing was not finding guests He just so happened to know a lot of good-looking women and strippers from his days in a Los Angeles band That helped him go quickly from freelance guest-finder to full-time producer I'd bring on a good-looking guest and Jerry would go ‘I want to meet that guest,’" Lubow claimed you know I'm a new producer here and it would do me a huge favor if you would go out with Jerry tonight and they would - so I was like the pimp." The ladies were happy to go hang out with Jerry He was one of the biggest entertainers on TV at the height of The Jerry Springer Show and we know that he was letting in as much romance as he could handle along the way As touching as the behind-the-scenes look at The Jerry Springer Show was They got their spark back thanks to swinging started exploring something called "ethical non-monogamy." They opened their relationship and started sleeping with other couples That ended when the pressures of building a business together overwhelmed them Now the couple, according to the NY Post is giving back and helping other couples in the bedroom They give other couples guidance on the swinging community while ignoring the trolls A couple says swinging saved their marriage "Swinging really saved us — mentally and getting that connection back People class it as cheating and say we are ‘splitting marriages up,'" says the wife "People are angry about something they don’t understand We’re having the best time in our 40s." What's wrong with saving your relationship It just proves that people will literally get upset about anything these days They spent five years together in a monogamous relationship They both had other monogamous relationships in the past that didn’t end up working out Dipping their toes in brought them closer together "It was a shock but it opened our eyes to this whole new world We had a kiss with another couple and it really turned us on We couldn’t keep our hands off each other for two weeks." That was the start of something the haters can't wrap their minds around They took things slowly and then eventually they were doing full swaps with couples Nothing says I love you like sleeping with other people After taking time off to focus on their business "You don’t have to go down the swinging route," she explained "We’re speaking to couples and helping them reconnect — helping them in the bedroom to talk about their fantasies." They could have kept this gift for themselves They want to help others and that's the most touching part of their entire story They saved their marriage and now are saving others You’re going to need it as we head into a woman having a secret affair with her boyfriend's dad Keeping it in the family is complicated to begin with. Admitting that she might be addicted to it is a whole new ballgame. The 23-year-old admitted, reports The Express, that she "always had a fantasy of having sex with a boyfriend's dad for some reason." So, when she found herself thinking that her boyfriend’s dad was cute, she let herself fulfill the fantasy with the now-51-year-old. A woman is addicted to the secret affair she's having with her boyfriend's dad. (Image Credit: Getty) The clueless boyfriend evidently has no idea about the years-long affair. "He's been divorced for eight years now. And we've always gotten along. It started as a best friend thing. I tried to resist the urge to continue, but it didn't change anything," she said. "The sex with him feels like a guilty pleasure. I think it's how taboo it is. We even had sex on my 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd birthdays." She knows it's a relationship that she should end, but confesses that she simply can't. She's addicted to it. The draw of making her fantasy a reality is too strong. I could be in the minority here, but I say let it ride until the wheels fall off. This affair has spanned four birthdays and the boyfriend hasn’t found out. He may never find out. If we've learned anything today, it’s that there's no reason to tie yourself down. It worked for America's favorite host, it's working currently for the swinging couple. There's no reason it can't work for this young lady too. I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again, you never want to look back on your life and worry about the what-ifs. What if I had slept with my boyfriend's dad until the wheels fell off? That's not a question she wants to be bothered with in her 60s. That's all I've got for this week. Tell me how much you love what Jerry Springer was allegedly up to in between episodes and anything else you have.  Questions, comments, stories, or whatever, feel free to send it my way. The inbox is always open sean.joseph@outkick.com. Written by Sean is a cubicle life escapee and proud member of OutKick's Culture Department and puppies - only one of those things is true You are agreeing to OutKick's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting. Gambling related content is not intended for anyone under the age of 21. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER The board charged with protecting Kansas utility customers said Wednesday it hired an oil and gas attorney as its new consumer counsel The Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board has hired David Nickel but his name wasn’t disclosed until Wednesday Nickel served as an attorney for the Kansas Corporation Commission for four years before leaving for private practice At the firm Depew Gillen Rathburn & McInteer LC in Wichita Nickel is a member of the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association and serves as chairman of its legislative standing committee He has testified before legislative committees “David brings a wealth of experience with a background in energy law covering government service and decades of private practice,” CURB said in a statement “Kansas residential and small business ratepayers will be well served by the efficiency and innovation which David’s private practice experience brings to CURB.” The board said it received “numerous applications” and conducted interviews on Feb The move caps months of turmoil for the consumer advocacy board The board then fired its acting chief counsel after CURB chairwoman Ellen Janoski accused Christopher of creating controversy about legislation that would block an overhaul of CURB’s mission Christopher had been an attorney for the board for 15 years She said after her firing that she had faithfully served the board the board had restricted her ability to speak with lawmakers and the press The board has been undergoing an internal debate over its role and future mission A January meeting in the wake of Springe’s resignation featured a debate among members over its purpose graduated with an English degree in 1979 from Benedictine College He earned a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1982 and a master’s in public administration from KU in 1983 He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Friends University in Wichita Sam Brownback appointed Henry Hungerbeeler Air Force officer and former director of Missouri’s Department of Transportation to serve on the Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board a Kansas Department of Administration attorney who has been providing counsel to CURB The chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission revealed Monday plans to resign after closing out a year marked by unusually contentious regulatory and personnel turmoil at the agency a Colorado lawyer who led the three-person commission since May 2011 plans to step down in a transition framed as an opportunity to spend greater time with family His term on the KCC would have expired in March 2015 "my desire now is to return to private life and spend more time with my wife I look forward to ensuring my replacement has a seamless transition as he or she joins the commission.” accepted the resignation without offering insight into who he might select as chairman That appointment is expected to be announced early next year "I appreciate Mark’s service to me and to Kansas," Brownback said "I wish him the best with his well-deserved retirement." The KCC's regulatory reach extends through the natural gas electricity and telephone industries and focuses on costs applied to business and residential customers The commission also has a regulatory role in the state's transportation sector The KCC was fined $500 one month ago for violations of the Kansas Open Meetings Act following an investigation by the Shawnee County District Attorney's office The infraction was tied to a water-rate case resigned in June amid an avalanche of disturbing disclosures about her day-to-day management in KCC offices a Kansas Department of Agriculture attorney Sievers also clashed with fellow commissioners Thomas Wright and Shari Feist Albrecht about propriety of the chairman attaching personal statements to formal commission orders and I'm sure the chairman is as anxious as anybody else to get us back on the right direction," said Wright "His resignation probably was an expression of that desire." Sievers also clashed with the Citizens' Utility Ratepayers Board which fulfills the role of consumer advocate in utility rate cases CURB took issue with one of Sievers' statements which they asserted questioned usefulness of their advocacy in rate-change deliberations said the chairman's resignation came as a surprise "We had some professional policy disagreements," Springe said These are very important issues and should be debated publicly." In terms of the open records act violation the KCC found itself under examination by Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor over the practice of "pink-sheeting." It was a long-standing method of working through fairly routine issues by having a KCC attorney go to commissioners individually in series to develop consensus The work was conducted behind closed doors in a manner not acceptable under the open meetings statute Sievers and the other commissioners agreed to end the back-room practice and pay a $500 fine out of agency funds Information about the violations came to light after publication by The Topeka Capital-Journal of information in a $5,000 internal audit containing sharp criticism from employees about Petersen-Klein's micromanagement and confrontational personality hired by Sievers in 2011 after she served six years on a KCC advisory council confided to auditors she was striving to overhaul a bloated underperforming agency while avoiding political entanglements damaging to Brownback She held herself out as a reform-government player placed in power to fix an "inefficient and overstaffed" KCC apparatus "No black eye for the governor was my mandate." The audit included comments from KCC employees who blamed Sievers for failing to address dissension roiling through the KCC Sievers’ previous experience included work for Verizon Global Solutions He also worked for the Utah attorney general and California Department of Water Resources the Boston Celtics are parting ways with the young guard the Celtics are expected to part ways with a 2030 second-round pick Springer is expected to end up with the Houston Rockets ahead of Thursday’s deadline The Boston Celtics are trading Jaden Springer and their 2030 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets, sources tell ESPN. Both teams are also exchanging heavily protected second-rounders. pic.twitter.com/rhcmgvvJQo the Sixers made a handful of trades on the day of the deadline but the Sixers struck a deal with Boston to swap out Springer for a second-round pick Springer’s 17-game run with the Celtics last season didn’t result in much personal success he got to experience his first NBA Finals run The young guard is an NBA Champion at age 22 USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jaden Springer (11) scores past Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn ImagesThis year Springer has 26 appearances with the Celtics and one steal during that time on the court Springer entered the NBA Draft as the youngest prospect that year When the Sixers went on the clock with the 28th overall pick He became Daryl Morey’s second first-round pick since joining the 76ers who was selected in the first round one year prior Springer didn’t see a ton of action right away he spent just two games on the court with the Sixers Most of his action came as a G League assignment with the Delaware Blue Coats He collected 16 games of action in year two but continued to spend a lot of time in the G League Springer appeared in a career-high 32 games for the Sixers He averaged four points and two rebounds per game while shooting 39 percent from the field Springer’s offense is still a major work in progress but the young guard has shown the potential to become an elite defender He’ll get a chance to iron out his game in Houston Adam Silver Speaks on Sixers Arena Decision 76ers Announce Roster Move Before OKC Thunder Matchup 76ers Reached Important Date for Ricky Council’s Contract Jared McCain’s Heartfelt Message Amid Injury News 76ers Fans React to Shocking Arena News Hounding the free media in Latvia on their coverage of what is starting to look like a lame-duck law one which requires residents of that country who are Russian citizens to get a basic knowledge of the Latvian language or leave the country Inga Spring is a co-founder of investigative journalism site Re:Baltica and has been awarded several times in her home country Springe made her remarks in an interview given to ERR following a decision by the Latvian state e-media regulatory body to fine a news portal €8,500 over its use of the word "deportation" in the context of Latvia's Russian-speaking population more specifically Russian citizens who are resident in Latvia The term itself was used by a politician who was speaking about migration law on a Russian-language webcast broadcast by Tvnet.lv (link in Estonian) – the politician reportedly used the Latvian term for "deportation" While the politician was speaking with reference to a requirement to learn Latvian to A2 level in the Common European Framework (CEF), the NEPLP found that the politician should have been corrected rather than "deportation" – the term the politician reportedly used as well as that of many other Latvian journalists and press organizations is that this is nonsense ,since if you read the NEPLP document in which they outline the reasons for their decision it becomes clear from its context that they are actually opposed to the use of such a word in the broadcast." one may not use the word 'deportation' in the context of the migration law in Latvia on the grounds of its being impermissible and wrong." it amounts to censorship and means that we as journalists now have to weigh our every word who have the right to their opinion," she added Springe said that there was a "witch hunt" going on in Latvia with the NEPLP as the witch-finder general and the Russian-language media in particular "I find that even if a thousand people have to leave the country because of this demand that itself is already part of inciting hatred," she found Springe also said that the situation in Latvia with regard to symbols relict of the Soviet occupation a hotly debated topic in Latvia's northern neighbor too is far more fraught in her home country than in Estonia some of which is carried out via social media and a "de-Russification of Latvia" which is in fact abnormal The migration law was changed just ahead of the parliamentary elections last autumn under pressure from Latvian nationalists – the National alliance "All for Latvia!"-"For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK" (or simply the NA for short – the rather lengthy appellation refers to just one party This legislation itself is "wrong" and "populist" Springe added Around half of the 20,000 people who would be required to take the language exam are over 65 years of age and expecting them to pass this exam within six to eight months was grossly unfair namely that to remain resident in Latvia the individual must have a monthly income of €650 but given the "miserable" pensions that many senior citizens in Latvia have solely because it would at the time have allowed them to retire earlier This €650-per-month minimum earnings requirement was later ditched in any case The NEPLP itself is under nationalist pressure while some nationalist politicians do indeed believe that deportations are possible in the context of the migration law – dissent against this leads to accusations of "treason" and of being "Russian-friendly" Actually gong through with deportations would be a PR disaster for Latvia She remained skeptical that the language issue was one of security that these people have had 30 years to learn the language and they should have done so but that's not how the law works," she said the deadline by which Russian-speaking residents would have had to have learned Latvian proved unrealistic simply on the basis of the migration board's resources – there was an insufficient number of times available to take the language exam – meaning the deadline had to be extend but they're saying it's not because it was a stupid decision but because we don't have enough capacity," Springe added also referring to the backtrack on the €620-per-month criteria Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update! 0)" class="article-poll-disclaimer" ng-bind="totalVotes + ' hääletajat'"> {{option.votes}} {{selectedLanguage.poll.votes}}/ Iga kasutaja võib hääletada {{poll.optionLimit}} vastusevariandi poolt More Take note – story published 7 years and 11 months ago The Minutes from Latvia podcast returns for a fifteenth iteration with leading investigative journalist and TV presenter Inga Springe entering the pod Six years ago Inga and colleague Sanita Jemberga founded the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism, Re:Baltica and since then has helped to break numerous major news stories often with an emphasis on corruption and inequality.  Inga also helped put together the acclaimed 2016 documentary The Master Plan exposing a shady network of Kremlin-connected groups in the Baltic states the conversation roams far and wide covering everything from fake news and journalistic ethics to the well-known global media conspiracy to make everyone miserable 5 years and still counting! Thanks to everyone who's been with us all this time. Support us: https://t.co/thSHP3RxZ3 pic.twitter.com/ySeCqb4LBh Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor Kids participating in a Civil War on the Western Frontier program took a journey into the past as they headed for the banks of the Kansas River to construct mud forts added more dirt to walls of the fort on Tuesday was one of many kids who built mud forts on the bank of the Kansas River on Tuesday as part of The Local historians have a lot of dirt to dish out when it comes to the Civil War Era local children and parents slung mud all over the banks of the Kansas River to take a trip back in time As part of a series of events called “The Civil War on the Western Frontier,” the children created mud forts — Lawrencians’ main line of defense starting in December 1855 “The Missouri people were very angry that some people wanted to have Kansas be a free state,” said Kade Traffas a Deerfield School fourth-grader who’s built forts for three years “They had to make mud forts to protect people from getting hurt by the Missouri people.” A mud fort looks just as it sounds — it’s a giant hole with mud piled up to form walls the group did forget to incorporate one thing in their fort: a way to get out but I think we might make them,” said Isaac Springe Local historian Katie Armitage oversees the re-creation of the Civil War enforcements (the mud fort) was 100 feet in diameter,” Armitage said That large mud fort was reserved for women and children Other forts at Eighth and New Hampshire and Seventh and Kentucky were on the edge of town at that time “Lawrence was hardly a year old,” said Armitage “It was just a tiny community.” the kids aren’t so sure mud forts are necessary anymore It’s not like Missouri people are coming down this river and about to attack us,” Traffas said Events commemorating Douglas County’s role in the Civil War continue through Aug. 22. For a list of events, look online. MONTREAL — A Quebec government plan to kill wolves that get too close to an endangered woodland caribou herd is raising concern among environmentalists who accuse the government of sidestepping the true problem of habitat loss Wildlife and Parks involves placing tracking collars on both the caribou and members of local wolf packs to monitor distances between them trained shooters in helicopters could be sent in to kill the wolf in a “targeted intervention,” according to Francis Forcier who is the general manager for strategic mandates at the department Forcier said the measures could be necessary in order to reverse the decline of the Charlevoix herd north of Quebec City whose numbers have fallen to an estimated 31 animals from 59 two years ago He stressed that the plan remains hypothetical and is intended as a stopgap while the province addresses the greater problem of habitat restoration given this drastic fall of nearly 50 per cent in two years is to look at measures that are stronger but temporary because the principal element we have to do is restore the habitat,” he said in a phone interview and they will be left alone as long as they don’t threaten the herd he believes no more than a dozen wolves will need to be killed The plan has drawn criticism from both environmentalists and members of the public A petition denouncing the plan to shoot the wolves currently had amassed more than 9,000 signatures by Wednesday a caribou expert who works with the David Suzuki Foundation says predator control is a popular management practice employed by provinces “that don’t have the political will to do the habitat restoration and protection that is needed to recover caribou populations.” She said that while wolves are indeed killing caribou that’s because of human activity that has destroyed the old-growth forests that protect them “Predator control is just a band-aid measure that further degrades ecosystems,” she said “Predators and their prey have co-evolved for thousands of years and they’re not the reason the caribou is declining.” Plotkin notes that the federal government’s caribou management plan found that caribou herds need a minimum of 65 per cent of their range left undisturbed if they’re to have any reasonable chance of survival The Charlevoix herd’s habitat has only 20 per cent Both environmentalists and the government agree that habitat preservation is crucial to the survival of the caribou which are especially sensitive to human interference and depend on thick old-growth forests to shield them from predators and provide the lichen they eat Those same old-growth forests are prized by the forestry industry and Forcier acknowledged that finding a balance between economic growth and conservation is a challenge But he said the government is limiting development on important lands and will take even stronger action in a caribou restoration plan to be unveiled in 2022 the head of environmental advocacy group Action Boreale feels the provincial government’s actions show it has no intention of helping caribou He points out that the promised action plan will only be implemented at the end of the current government’s mandate for their whole mandate they’ll do nothing to protect the caribou,” he said He also criticized the province’s decision to remove protection for some 460 square kilometres of woods in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region which had been previously designated protected caribou habitat Forcier said the decision was made mostly because no caribou had been seen in the area in several years He says that it’s normal for caribou to leave an area for a few years after grazing there Jacob is also critical of the government’s plan to kill wolves noting they can actually help keep herds healthier by eliminating sicker He said that while predator management can sometimes be part of a temporary preservation strategy it serves no purpose if it is not paired with serious effort to preserve habitat you won’t have a cake,” he said This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec 11 WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to navigate a delicate balance during his first in-person meeting with Donald Trump today As the Toronto Maple Leafs busied themselves closing out a raucous 5-4 Game 1 victory over the nemesis Florida Panthers with backup goalie Joseph Woll holding fort and third-stringer Dennis Hildeby.. A Canadian man arrested on vacation has been proven innocent Melissa Nakhavoly with why he is still being held in the Dominican Republic Warmer temperatures but showers are expected on-and-off for the next few days Meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai has your seven-day forecast Ontario Premier Doug Ford calls on Prime Minister Mark Carney to prioritize a list of projects including the proposed Highway 401 tunnel a mentally ill man who was killed in an Ontario prison is calling out the provincial government over the lack of correctional reform listen to NewsRadio Toronto live anytime and get up-to-the-minute breaking-news alerts weather and video from CityNews Toronto anywhere you are – across all Android and iOS devices If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly) Sign up to receive job alerts of your choice by email Get ahead of the pack with our handy guides Featured recruiter: click to view its vacancies Publisher of professional magazines and web sites seeks experienced editor to maintain market-leading products and develop additional channels Subscribe to our newsletter for latest news End that deadline stress today and find help in our freelance directory Cargo Force stuns the world: free 10kg shipping to India in celebration of ICC Trophy victory – offer ongoing until Sunday Join in the debates with other media pros on our online forum Our 35th Newsrewired conference will be held 13 May 2025 Balance quality content with strategic growth A new report by FT Strategies and smartocto reveals how newsrooms are increasing relevance engagement and revenue by focusing on why readers consume news rather than what journalists think is important The Scandinavian media company is using innovative tools including bullet-pointed explainers embedded in crime stories to rebuild trust among young audiences and counter growing news avoidance How do the likes of DER SPIEGEL and L'Equipe turn fly-by readers into loyal subscribers The Audiencer's Madeleine White dives into top case studies Take note – story published 10 years and 5 months ago Media outlets in the Baltic states face a struggle to survive with the majority of companies in the region yet to return to their pre-crisis revenue levels according to Inga Springe of the Baltic Center For Investigative Journalism Presenting a report titled "The Baltic Media: Challenges Finances and Audience During 2008-2014" at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga based on extensive analysis of company data Springe said that 37 out of the 50 companies that directly own the 75 most popular media outlets in Estonia Latvia and Lithuania have not returned to their pre-crisis levels of revenue and few are profitable "The healthiest media environment is in Estonia They have higher trust in media and there is also a correlation with higher trust in government Opinion polls show trust in media goes hand in hand [with trust in government] In Lithuania only 10 percent of residents trust the parliament In Estonia people trust media more while the people most skeptical about media are in Lithuania If people don't trust the media they also don't trust the government." Raising this level of trust presents a key challenge adding that the mixing of paid-for "advertorial" content with genuine editorials poses a particular threat we saw more and more hidden or paid advertisement articles appearing When we spoke with media owners and asked 'Why are you using these hidden advertisements?' the answer was always 'But we need to survive.'" people don't trust the media any more and they don't consume the media any more," Springe said "As journalists or media professionals in Latvia we should stand up and talk about these paid advertisements and if we are journalists Six men are drinking moonshine at a shared table in one of the cells of the largest prison in Latvia None of them cares about the guards because often overnight there is just one for 400 prisoners Inmates Kots un Maks (both - nicknames) get into an argument “You gonna get up?” Maks challenges Kots “I’ll get up if I have to,” he replies Maks grabs Kots by the shirt and throws him to the floor takes his shirt off and stands up to his attacker But Maks isn’t done working the unconscious Kots over By the time the other inmates have put Kots back to his bed scraped elbows and knees as well as a bleeding wound behind his ear The guards arrived at 8AM and didn’t detect anything suspicious Kots only received medical attention before lunchtime when  he was already incapable of getting up from the bed or forming coherent sentences Two hours later he was rushed to hospital. His cellmates claimed that Kot s fell and hit against the concrete floor when he tried to stand on a wall separating the toilet from the rest of the room while trying to change a light bulb. The medics dismissed this claim stating that he had been hit in the head at least 6 times and had bruises that predated the situation. who was in prison for drug use and dealing was tried for the murder of his cellmate because he dealt the killing blow. Kots is one of the four people who have been officially reported to have died in Latvian prisons during the last five years   One inmate in a prison in Daugavpils Estonia has one reported prison death in total. Death is visible proof of prison violence The invisible is are “severe beatings according to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) The CPT and Ombudsman of Latvia appears to be the only ones concerned with the violence in the prisons Inmates don’t talk about it out of fear The prison management pretends there is no problem nearly 25 years after Latvia regained its independence the prison system still functions according to the traditions it inherited from the Soviet Union Latvian prisons are considered more like torture camps than correctional facilities Latvia has more than double the per capita proportion of prisoners than the average in the European Union and at least five times more than Norway which is considered by some to be the example of how prison systems should be Latvia and Estonia most commonly sentences criminals to 5-10 years behind the bars The average conviction length in the EU is 1 to 3 years But the heavy punishments do not magically transform the convicts into better people 51% of the people who were released after a full sentencing commit repeat felonies within the span of two years after release These people are usually young men who cannot reintegrate back into the society. Society thinks heavy punishments create more safety yet instead they manufacture more criminals.   The three castes “Society doesn’t want to think that prison isn’t the end of the problem The most important part is who will be the person coming out of that prison Society wouldn’t feel safer if they realized that the person that comes back has spent years in inhumane conditions and learned even more methods to commit crimes,” said Ilona Supre (44) “Usually it starts with petty theft like a mobile phone or jar of jam in the nearby summer cottage but next time they are back in prison for a gang robbery then battery and it could even end with murder.” Such is the story of a 27 year old man named Artis (name changed) Prison first had an effect on his life when he was just 4 years old His mother was imprisoned for stealing a piglet from the farm where she was working. Artis was put up for the adoption He was doing well in his new adopted family He was caught and sent to a youth correctional facility at age 17. After being released he finished 12th grade and entered the University of Latvia with the intention of becoming a lawyer he got in to an argument with his sister and it escalated to calling the police but later sentenced to imprisonment for not showing up for the hearing of the verdict. After his release he got a job at a store One day there was a theft and Artis was fired when his employer found out that he had been previously convicted even though there was no evidence linking him to the theft The employer said he fired him because of “a breach of trust” A month later Artis went drinking at a friend’s place He ended up murdering his friend. When Artis was taken to one of the Latvia’s largest prisons a guard asked where he would like to stay for the duration of his incarceration Knowing that he would have to spend a long time in prison Artis replied : “Where it’s quieter” He ended up in the lowest prison caste as a result There are three castes in the Latvia’ prisons hierarchy Blatnije  (from a Russian word – a favor in exchange for another favor ) are the VIP caste Muziki (from Russian – implies that someone is a “true man”) are the average thugs And then there’s kreisie (from the Latvian for “left”) The average thugs have to be subservient to the VIP caste or else they will be booted down to the bottom feeder level The bottom feeders have no choice but to serve the thugs who only use them for their own purposes The VIP prisoners don’t ever speak to or use the same utilities as bottom feeders. Criminology expert and former chief of prison administration Vitolds Zahars says that the prison hierarchy is “a structure created by the prisoners themselves based on a sense of justice based on a set of values only understood by the prisoners themselves” Pedophiles and rapists are automatically deemed bottom feeders and they are kept in separate cells for their own safety But prisoners can be booted down to the bottom feeder tier for even trivial reasons like gambling debts or stealing food from other inmates Capitalism has brought some changes to the structure In the prison of Jekabpils an inmate recently entered the prison as a VIP by paying for the installation of new windows in the prison A lack of money can also be a reason to be deemed a bottom feeder Over the past few years there have been several reported complaints about the quality of life on the lowest level “Bottom feeders can’t be in the same place as the upper castes use the gym or use the computers,” writes one of the inmates.                     Artis felt discriminated against because he was put in to the low caste out of mistake He didn’t think much of the caste system because during his prior convictions he had been a thug which is the caste the bulk of the inmates are. Artis directs most of his anger at the prison management because it functions in a way that respects the rules of the prison hierarchy He claims that his application for the vacant position of prison librarian was denied because the social worker told him “bottom feeders don’t get to work” which was a profession he learned while in prison Artis filed complaints to the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Administration The Administration dismissed the claim that there is a informal hierarchy in the prison system but the Ministry of Justice replied in writing that “the system has existed for decades” He demanded they destroy the hierarchy where prisoners have the right to decide on and punish other prisoners and demanded compensation of LVL 240 000 (EUR 377  550). The Ombudsman came to the same conclusions as Artis When officials inspected  Jekabpils prison in 2008,  they reported that they are “convinced that the prison management has legalized the prisoner hierarchy The prisoners settle their disputes between themselves and the management does nothing.” The management even used the internal hierarchy to discipline inmates and extort information about things like possession of drugs or mobile phones Refusal to comply would boot the prisoner down to the bottom tier Even if the management tried to disrupt the informal hierarchy Artis noted in his letter to court that even if he was got the job there would probably be a backlash from the other inmates When someone in the upper tiers of the hierarchy didn’t approve the new cook in Jekabpils prison he was quickly fired They would ruin the food by secretly contaminating it with dirt or inedible items inmates start hunger strikes (as happened in Centralcietums District court refused his case because “the castes are a societal structure made by the inmates themselves and the administration has no responsibility for it” the court added that “all societal structures that segregate people create inequality between members of it.” Such is the case in prison as well and there is no authority to blame for it In 2012 it stated that it is the country’s responsibility to prevent violence in prisons as well as the informal hierarchy because it is one of the main reasons for violence The court cited CPT reports which emphasize that “the possibility of being a victim of battery extortion and other forms of abuse is everyday life for many prisoners.” but no perpetrators The prison administration explains its reluctance for change by the fact that there is not enough money Academic studies in Scandinavia and Estonia both show that change requires the strong will to make it by the reluctance to investigate crimes in prisons In his court application Artis writes that “the violence I’ve been subjected to was not just beatings He had not spoken about it with the prison management because “over the years I’ve realised that there will not be any help and I want to stay alive.” The complaints prisoners write to the ombudsman are usually general and do not decribe the attacks in enough detail for prosecution The inmates either do not believe that the investigations will be fair or are afraid of revenge Latvian prisons hold between 5000-6000 prisoners 16 criminal investigations are opened (Estonia has about 80 cases a year and its prison population is smaller) About 90% of the cases never reach the court as the evidence during investigations is deemed inconclusive Usually the final conclusion is that prisoners hurt themselves by accident Over the last seven years only two sexual assault cases have made it to court Investigations are done by prisons’ administrations.  Both the inmates and CPT do not believe that they are properly done and often resemble cover-ups CTP has suggested an independent inquiries as a solution but the government’s promises have never been followed by action recalls how during the conference few years ago a representative of the state prosecutor’s office asked: “Why don’t we trust each other Why do we suspect that the investigations in prisons are not objective?” Investigating officer chimed in: “We investigate objectively it’s just that they are always guilty!” And then I thought about how impossible would it be to investigate your co-workers if the prisoners are the ones always at fault if one believes they always provoke the situations,” Puce said a former policeman who had been sentenced to life  imprisonment for the kidnapping and murder of a teenager met his end by provoking the prison guards. In September of 2008 the guards made a full inspection of Danilins’ cell in Daugavpils prison The guards claim that Danilins refused and attacked He hit one guard in the face and knocked the other one down on the floor where he started to choke him To stop Danilins the guards hit with their sticks at least 25 times across the body and head.  Danilins crawled under the bed and then the guards hit him at least 17 times in ribs and stomach until they could drag him out.  Danilins threw up and choked on his own vomit The autopsy could not explain what induced the vomiting For their crime the two guards  were sentenced to a financial penalty around 10 minimum monthly salaries  (around 2560 euro at the time) for excessive use of force The CPT said it was unsure the punishment properly reflects the crime committed The refusal to create an independent investigation unit for prison crime in Latvia almost led to an international scandal in 2013 The CPT was so angered by the unkept promises that it was considering issuing a special statement about the state of prisons in Latvia The CPT has previously issued such condemning statements only regards the three countries: Russia Latvia is discussing a plan to trust the investigation of the prison crimes to a special unit within the Ministry of Interior which deals with the crimes within the law enforcement agencies but it is better than nothing. Another indicator of the problems within Latvian prisons is the high suicide rate 2012 was the worst year: 8 inmates committed suicide (in 2013 it was 3 people) Almost half of those inmates were still waiting for the trial to start The administration has a huge influence on the prison environment Visvaldis Pukite was the embodiment of society’s prejudices One of the first things Pukite did when he started work in 2007 was getting rid of Prison Administration’s spokesman because “the people do not need to know what happens in jails” In 2007 the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Latvian government to pay EUR 7000 to a prisoner who complained about inhumane treatment.  “That man would smell and look worse outside of prison than in,” Pukite offered I don’t think it’s our fault that he didn’t await the final hearding and judgement He punished himself out of a moral principle” Pukite told Diena Latvian daily newspaper. In the last decade the European Court of Human Rights has fined the Latvian government 67 000 euros for inhumane treatment of prisoners.   What can one do? A new administration and a new prison are two things that could change Latvia’s prison subculture in the next few years In 2013,  Ilona Spure (44) became the new Chief Administrator of prisons She has a master’s degree in pedagogy and nearly 20 years of work experience in the prison system the last being responsibility for the reintegration of the prisoners back into the society Spure’s priority is to finish building an extension to the prison in Olaine by 2016 The new section would be capable of rehabilitating up to 200 addicts (80% of prisoners are addicted to drugs or drink but the prisons offer only short term rehabilitation programs) 15% is provided by Latvia and the rest funded by Norway. “It will be a testing ground where we’ll explore new approaches This would include adjusting the attitudes of older employees of the system in order to make a change in the Soviet system,” said Spure The correctional colony system of the USSR is still the basis for the prison system in Latvia and Lithuania It’s main purpose was to re-educate prisoners by making them complete “five year plans” which existed for the whole economy This entrenched the culture of violence and castes. Breaking this tradition is Spures’ second prority The new prison in Liepaja must be built by 2018 It would be the first new prison built in post-Soviet Latvia But there is a chance that it won’t be built It’s hard to explain to society why it should spend 59 million euro for a new prison when “retired people need to count every cent,” says Spure Lithuania has also not built a single new prison since regaining it’s independence. Estonia These prisons cost slightly more than 100 million euro A third prison is due  to be built in Tallinn that would cost a bit more (106 million euros) The new prison in Liepaja will be about the same size as the current largest Academic literature refers to these types of prison as “Titanics” due to the amount of resources required for safety “There’s nothing humane about the new prisons as they are too big Maximum security forces the prisoners to feel like criminals constantly which means they can’t return to society as normal human beings,” says Estonian criminologist Anna Markina like the ones in Norway have proved themselves as the most effective The smallest had 12 inmates and the largest: 392 this solution is very costly. Spure says that the new prison in Liepaja will be managed as ifit consisted of several smaller prisons with their own individual personnel Cells will be either for one or two people Multiple prisoners will only gather in class or during events which succeeded in changing the prison subculture in this way Criminologist Markina says that the prison of Viru has a separate section for prisoners who denounced the hierarchy “But there is also a sector where the old hierarchy still reigns and the VIPs refuse to work.” Estonia slowly but diligently changed the personnel of their prisons One of the demands was a good grasp of Estonian language which decreased the dominance of Russian language in the prison said Markina. Spure hopes to also hire only motivated employees in the prisons of Olaine and Liepaja but may stumble over the situation in the labour market Prison guard’s salary in Latvia is EUR 670 a month before tax They work in shift and get additional pay for the night shifts No one is fighting over vacancies in the prison sector The Central Prison has almost 90 unfilled vacancies The psychologists and social workers in prisons work every dayand get EUR 570 a month before taxes The government’s regulations require 1 psychologist for every 75 inmates it is 1 for every 255 inmates. If all the reforms are successful the prison system shall become cheaper and more effective in long term The last years have brought a tendency to replace the imprisonment with a probation for the less significant crimes.  It also saves money as  one prisoner costs the state 18 euros a day while someone on probation only costs 1.50 euros a day. There’s also a lower rate of repeated offences 16% of people on probation commit repeat felonies while 50% of people in prison will engage in criminal activity again Latvia will introduce electronic tagging of prisoners Prisoners on parole will have electronic tracking devices attached to their legs to monitor their movement The use of  tracking devices could cut expenses down to 10 euro a day per prisoner Estonia’s experience shows that the biggest advantage of the tagging is the ability of prisoners to return to their family Electronic tagging would not help Artis who has to spend next years in prison due to the severity of his crime He says his only wish is to have a bit of peace and quiet Our communication had to happen via letters as prison’s administration did not allow us to meet They could not guarantee that after his confessions he would not get injured after falling off a chair or from the wall which separates toilets from the inmates bedroom Inga Springe is the Director of the RE: Baltica Center for Investigative Journalism and chairman of the Association of Latvian Journalists A version of this article was first published on www.rebaltica.lv and has been republished with the kind permission of the author A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy At dusk, on a warm August evening, Marek pulled into a petrol station near the Hungarian-Romanian border. He closed the window and stayed at the wheel of the van. He only got out when he saw the officers’ guns pointing at him. Asked to open the back door of the van, Marek rushed to call the manager, with whom he had been in constant contact for the past hour. Only this time, the manager did not answer. At the back of the van, the silhouettes of people emerged, followed by shouts and chaos. Marek then realised he had become part of a criminal network involved in the smuggling of migrants. This incident is not unique. Since 2021, 31 Lithuanians have been detained in Hungary. This is the official figure, but in reality, as many as 50 Lithuanians and 30 Latvians were put behind bars in Hungary. Former Lithuanian Ambassador to Hungary Vytautas Pinkus attributes the issue to the activities of organised groups that recruit people in the Baltics. “A minor was arrested and convicted for bringing a car from Lithuania by himself. I don’t even know how much he was paid for that. This means that these organisations are targeting very young people. Perhaps knowing that minors cannot be imprisoned,” he said. Drivers are recruited through job ads or friends who help them find jobs in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, or Serbia. Migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and elsewhere cross into these countries in search of a better life. Most often, Lithuanian or Latvian men, aged between 20 and 45, respond to these job offers. Marek had just turned 40 when he became involved in the scheme. The former warehouse manager is now facing six years in prison. But he is not the only Lithuanian inmate in Veszprém Prison, visited by the LRT journalists. “I wanted to earn more money and started looking for work online. A picture kept popping up in the corner. I looked at it once, looked at it again, and then clicked,” Marek said when asked to describe the start of his journey to Hungary. The advert is unremarkable: work abroad, good pay, driving license required. The man who answers the phone offers 260 euros for 10 hours of work transporting goods. “They say they are in this situation because of the war in Ukraine and they are helping unofficially. People collect parcels and then they have to be shipped from Italy, Slovakia, and, most recently, from Hungary,” Marek said. The Lithuanian driver’s defence is that he did not know what cargo he was actually transporting. The coordinator gave him detailed instructions and a phone. When he arrived in Budapest, Marek had to take over a van bound for Slovakia. Later, it was clarified that he was going to Italy, and then to Ukraine. Then followed a long series of misunderstandings and miscommunication. The lock on the back door of the van was said to be broken, so Marek was told not to touch it. He was following the GPS directions sent by the coordinators. They were most likely diverting him on longer routes to minimise the risk of being caught. According to Marek, he believed he was transporting sunflower seeds and wine. It was only when the police stopped him that it became clear that there were 37 migrants in the van, while the GPS directions led not to Ukraine but to Romania. Hungarian police have gathered evidence that the Lithuanian was part of an organised group. But Marek says he is innocent, as he neither saw nor heard people during the journey. “I was just wondering what the job was like, what the pay was,” he said. Hungary’s populist far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made the fight against irregular migration a cornerstone of his policy. “We are not only protecting Hungary from illegal immigrants, but we are also protecting the whole of Europe,” Orbán said at an event in Vienna this year. In 2022, the Hungarian border guards stopped 330,000 migrants trying to enter the country. Last year, the Hungarian police also stepped up their efforts to catch migrant smugglers, arresting around 2,000 people in total, most of them foreigners. In Hungary, people can be sentenced to two to six years in prison for this activity. Vitoldas, 23, is another Lithuanian detained in Hungary. He admits that he and his partner came here for work and were promised 3,000 euros for transporting migrants to Italy. “Well, I got into trouble. But I didn’t know that the punishment was so severe,” said Vitoldas, who was sentenced to six years in prison. He was caught by Hungarian officers on his way back from Italy, as he was supposed to continue transporting migrants. But for people like Vitoldas, the punishment is only on paper. Law enforcement has promised to release the smuggler before the verdict is announced. This is because Hungary has started releasing convicted prisoners in an effort to meet EU standards for prisoners’ living conditions, as well as the high costs of detaining foreigners. Since April this year, more than 1,400 convicted people smugglers have been released from Hungarian prisons. “We had to take this decision on people smugglers because Brussels is not contributing to the cost of border security, but is punishing Hungary when prisons are overcrowded,” said Hungary’s Deputy Interior Minister Bence Rétvári. When LRT journalists visited Veszprém Prison in June, Lithuanian Donatas, who was also sentenced to six years in prison, was eager to leave Hungary as soon as possible. “One of my friends has already been deported. I am still waiting,” he said. Donatas was detained before his 30th birthday. After analysing correspondence between four people, the Hungarian police found that he and three other Lithuanians were involved in organised people smuggling. “Message by message. Of course, you have something to cling to. But where are the real facts? Those people were gone. There are no real facts,” Donatas said. In fact, when he and his friend were caught, the migrants were no longer in the van. Donatas says he arrived at the Hungarian-Austrian border to help an acquaintance fix a flat tire, while he was visiting Hungary simply to admire the country. Although Donatas claims he is innocent, he pleaded guilty in court. “I cannot talk any other way now,” he said, meaning that the confession was a condition for getting out of jail sooner. Donatas and Vitoldas were granted an unusual Hungarian amnesty, officially known as reintegration, under which the offender is deported from the country. “The prisoners sign that they will have to serve their sentence somewhere else, that they know they have been sentenced, are released from prison, and are obliged to leave Hungary within 72 hours. In this case, they go somewhere, probably to Lithuania, or maybe not, we don’t know because nobody has any way of checking it,” explained former Lithuanian Ambassador to Hungary Pinkus. According to information available to LRT, Hungary may have already released dozens of Lithuanian convicts. It is difficult to get an exact figure because Hungarian prisons do not usually inform other countries’ authorities about releases. The Lithuanian police are only aware of six Lithuanians who have been released. The Probation Service, meanwhile, is not aware of the situation at all. “There is no possibility to serve the rest of the sentence in Lithuania,” Ramūnas Matonis, spokesperson at the Police Department, told LRT. According to the EU law, serving a sentence in one’s home country must be enforced by the Prison Service, but no requests have been received from Hungary. “As the institutions of the penal enforcement system have not received any information about the convicted persons, we cannot attempt to describe their current sentence or life circumstances, which would be a matter of speculation,” the Justice Ministry said. The European Commission has launched a legal procedure against Hungary’s decision. According to Marius Vaščega, head of the EC Representation in Lithuania, the Hungarian decision does not contain any rules on how convicted people should be treated outside the country. “A note was sent to Hungary for non-compliance. Such shortened sentences for those convicted of smuggling offences are neither effective nor a deterrent,” he said. The demand for drivers to transport migrants is growing across the EU. In Lithuania, more than 70 pre-trial investigations into people smuggling were opened in September this year. Among the arrested smugglers, 23 were Latvians. The LRT Investigation Team and Re:Baltica managed to identify one Latvian national who was detained this year trying to enter Poland with migrants at Lithuania’s Kalvarija border checkpoint. According to Ainars, he did not know he was transporting migrants. In April, he agreed to take four people from Latvia’s Daugavpils to Germany for 200 euros per person. A childhood friend offered him the job, the Latvian national said. “My friend said that his former boss from Germany had called and asked to bring four people to work. I had two days off, so I calculated that I could go,” Ainars said. He picked up the well-dressed men and did not suspect anything because all the passengers had passports. “I had heard about these migrants, but I didn’t think it could be the case. I worked for a courier company, and there were all kinds of people. There have been problems, people with passports, without passports, but not like this,” he said. Until September 1, 590 smuggled migrants from Latvia have been detained in Lithuania, compared to 23 in the same period last year. This may be linked to the fact that the flow of migrants crossing from Belarus has been redirected from Lithuania to Latvia. More than 9,000 migrants have been turned away at the Belarusian-Latvian border this year, almost double the number compared to last year. Marek, Donatas, and Ainars are not the real names of the subjects in this story. They agreed to speak to journalists on condition of anonymity. Sunnmørsposten arbeider etter Vær Varsom-plakatens regler for god presseskikk. Se også Redaktøransvar Sunnmørsposten har ikke ansvar for innhold på eksterne nettsider som det lenkes til Alt innhold er opphavsrettslig beskyttet 2025 © Sunnmørsposten Weiterer wesentlicher Meilenstein auf dem Weg in die strategische Partnerschaft mit KKR erreicht Das freiwillige öffentliche Übernahmeangebot von KKR ist in der weiteren Annahmefrist für zusätzliche 14,7 Prozent der Axel-Springer-Aktien angenommen worden Einschließlich der während der ursprünglichen Annahmefrist angedienten Aktien beläuft sich die endgültige Annahmequote auf insgesamt 42,5 Prozent des Grundkapitals der Axel Springer SE Damit ist ein weiterer wesentlicher Meilenstein auf dem Weg in die strategische Partnerschaft mit KKR erreicht dass zusätzlich bis zum Ablauf der weiteren Annahmefrist Vereinbarungen über den Erwerb von Axel-Springer-Aktien außerhalb des Übernahmeangebots entsprechend einem Anteil von etwa 1,04 Prozent des Grundkapitals und der Stimmrechte von Axel Springer abgeschlossen wurden Vorstandsvorsitzender von Axel Springer: „Das Ergebnis des Angebots ist ein sehr starkes Fundament für die geplante strategische Partnerschaft mit KKR Wir konzentrieren uns in den kommenden Monaten auf die Umsetzung unserer Wachstumsstrategie Der Vollzug des Angebots steht weiterhin unter dem Vorbehalt kartellrechtlicher außenwirtschaftsrechtlicher und medienkonzentrationsrechtlicher Freigaben Der Abschluss der Transaktion wird in den nächsten Monaten erwartet Troops recovered ammunition from Boko Haram insurgents in an ambush at Goneri town in Borno state Some of the insurgents were said to have escaped with gun shot wounds “Following reliable information about movement of remnants of suspected Boko Haram terrorists laid an ambush for the terrorists,” Usman said in a statement “The troops laid the ambush about 3 kilometres away from Goneri town south-west of Kukawa local government area where they encountered the unsuspecting terrorists in 2 gun trucks and on motorcycles and engaged them “An unconfirmed number of the terrorists escaped with gun shot wounds abandoning 1 Buffalo Land Cruiser gun truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun 1,600 rounds of 12.7mm Armour Piercing Incendiary (API) ammunitions 563 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition for General Purpose Machine Guns and 57 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition.” Usman said the army also recovered “recovered 1 motorcycle 7 jerry cans of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO) 2 Cameroonian telecommunication service providers SIM cards as well as a pair of the Boko Haram terrorists special forces uniform They also recovered 1 Samsung Galaxy Tablet and assorted drugs and such as Climax Oxytocin and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Home   News   Article King Edward VII Academy in King’s Lynn is celebrating the achievements of the Academy’s GCSE students today The percentage of both 9-5 grades awarded has seen an increase this year and 9-4 grades have continued to be strong Officials say many students have outstanding achievements in both attainment and progress Sarah Hartshorn said: “It has been another challenging year for our staff and students have been focused and determined to succeed the Academy will not be publishing our results "The school has been on a positive journey for the last two years and this trajectory continues to be reflected in our outcomes "I look forward to welcoming many of our students back in September to continue their educational Journey in our sixth form.” Notable success stories include Ryan Bunton and Alina Ahsan who achieved all their grades at the coveted grade 9 who all attained the majority of their grades at a grade 8 or higher KES Academy are delighted to be welcoming these students into their sixth Form to continue with their next stage of their studies and build on this success 15 further students attained an average grade of 7 or better Delighted students have been reflecting on their grades who achieved 10 grade 9s and a distinction in Business and Enterprise said: ‘‘I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the staff students and family that have supported me through this difficult year and through my journey at KES "I am truly thrilled with these results and I hope everyone else got the results that they were hoping for.’’ who picked seven grade 9s and three grade 8s said: "I’m very pleased with my results and delighted for our year group "This has been an extremely difficult year for all and I am proud that all of our efforts are shown in these grades Gabriele Andriuskaite said: "I’d like to say thank you to all my friends and family for supporting me throughout my high school years "But most importantly I’d like to thank my teachers who supported me with both my education and my mental health and really couldn’t have done it without them." a grade 8 and four grade 7s and said: "I am very happy with my results The teachers at KES helped me so much along the way and I’m looking forward to coming back for 6th form Perpetual Mintah-Baah with four grade 9s and six grade 8s added: "I would most definitely like to start by thanking all of the teachers here at KES for helping me throughout the years I am truly amazed at the grades I have achieved today "To all those coming to year 11 or starting their GCSEs I would say that they should try their hardest even if they think that they will not be able to get the highest grades because they may do better than they actually think they will said: "I am delighted beyond description at achieving such wondrous grades My time at KES was an enthralling experience and forging friendships that will last a lifetime I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to my family for their continued support over the years." said: "I am absolutely relieved to know that my exams are over with and I am proud of my results I am also grateful to have finished my high school experience at King Edward VII Academy "I have to thank the school for their endless support and my family who have been just as supportive Student Erin McDonald added: I am really happy with the results I got today I couldn’t have done it without the support from my friends "It was a difficult year for most of us but I think that today shows that hard work pays off I can’t wait to continue my education at KES sixth form Christian Tansey said: "I am grateful to the teachers that helped me get to where I am with the outcome and I look forward to the next step with the KES sixth form." Click here to read Your Local Paper & Lynn News e-editions acting on a reliable tip-off on the movement of suspected Boko Haram terrorists laid the ambush about 3 kilometres away from Goneri town South West of Kukawa Local Government Area where they engaged the unsuspecting terrorists in 2 gun trucks and on motorcycles An unconfirmed number of the terrorists escaped with gun shot wounds abandoning 1 Buffalo Land Cruiser gun truck mounted with an Anti-Aircraft gun 1,600 rounds of 12.7mm Armour Piercing Incendiary(API) ammunitions 563 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition for General Purpose Machine Guns and 57 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition as well as a pair of the Boko Haram terrorists Special Forces uniform They also recovered 1 Samsung Galaxy Tablet and assorted drugs such as Climax Oxytocin the troops are further exploiting the situation while troops of 157 Task Force Battalion are blocking likely escape routes of remnants of the terrorists in Mile 90 Written by Olateju Lucas It’s About Us (2017-2022) was the first show produced by Gaffy that I watched sits on a demographic goldmine. With over 70 percent of the population under 30 which consists of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has reacted to the recent backlash it received regarding the ill-health of one of .. Makanjuola to discuss his journey as an activist in Nigeria that has been marked by .. In a proactive move towards championing child rights the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has designated four prominent figures from ...