BARISHAL Sajid Javid pledges CovdiD Update BANGLADESH Online News 2023

 Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found

ackling trade deal with EU adds further pressure on prime minister after confidence vote Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis. right, has warned Boris Johnson, left, that hardliners in the loyalist DUP could resist a return to Stormont. © Pippa Fowles/No 10 Downing Street

Health and social care leadership in England will be overhauled after a review found evidence of bullying and blame cultures, Sajid Javid has said.

Following a series of damaging scandals at NHS trusts, the government said the report found "institutional inadequacy" in how managers are trained and valued.

The health secretary said the findings - to be published in full later - were "stark".

He earlier likened the NHS to the defunct Blockbuster video rental shop.

Downing Street said Mr Javid told cabinet colleagues the NHS was a "Blockbuster healthcare system in the age of Netflix".

"The NHS is absolutely fantastic, we all rely on it, but much of how it's set up is a still very much 1948, we need to be thinking about 2048 and how we get from here to the needs of the British population when it comes to health in 2048," Mr Javid later explained to MPs.

Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting responded: "I think it's slightly absurd that 12 years into a government we have government ministers who talk in the biggest generalities without plans to deliver anything."

• Patients at risk due to NHS staff crisis, say nurses
• Bullying claims see staff shake-up
• Why the NHS is struggling like never before

Ahead of the full publication of the review into health management, the Department of Health and Social Care said in a press release that, while it highlighted instances of inspirational leadership, overall the report found "a lack of consistency and co-ordination".

It also said the report "identified a lack of equal opportunity for managers to access training and colleagues to progress in their careers, with those who have existing networks or contacts more likely to access these opportunities".

The review was headed by General Sir Gordon Messenger, a former vice chief of the defence staff who led the Royal Marines in the invasion of Iraq, and Dame Linda Pollard, chair of an NHS trust.

Mr Javid said: "The findings in this report are stark, it shows examples of great leadership but also where we need to urgently improve."

He fully supported the review's recommendations, which the government said include:

 

• action to improve equality, diversity and inclusion
• clear routes to progression and promotion
• a simplified appraisal system to focus on how people have behaved, not just what they have achieved
• the development of consistent management standards through accredited training
• encouraging the best leaders and managers to take on the most difficult roles, so they are seen as "the best jobs rather than the most feared jobs"

Ministers have their work cut out

The review's ideas for improving NHS and social care leadership in England seem to have been widely welcomed.

Few could disagree with the view that patient care will benefit from a well-led and motivated workforce and that staff should be empowered to develop their careers.

But how that will be achieved is another matter.

Persuading talented managers to take on the toughest roles in challenged areas won't be straightforward. Changing institutional culture will take a while.

The suggestion of discrimination and bullying at some organisations is concerning.

And as the King's Fund think tank notes, the report comes at a time of a workforce crisis with chronic staff shortages which have not yet been faced up to the government.

 

Ministers will have their work cut out to explain how this review will address the underlying problems of a health and care system under great strain.

NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: "As this report recognises, leaders across the health service do a fantastic job in often very challenging circumstances.

"The NHS is a learning organisation - we welcome this report and are determined to do all we can to ensure our leaders get the support they need".

Gen Messenger said the recommendations could transform leadership in the sector, adding: "A well-led, motivated, valued, collaborative, inclusive, resilient workforce is the key to better patient and public health outcomes, and must be a priority."

Meanwhile, Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents health and care leaders, said the review had shown the need for more diverse leadership.

"We can't hide from the fact that all too often staff from ethnic minority backgrounds are still not being provided with the support they need to progress to leadership roles," he said.

The review into health service leadership follows a series of damaging scandals at NHS trusts.

About three weeks after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Indonesian housewife Liesye Setiana was forced to close her banana chip business as cooking oil supplies dried up across the country.

Millions of consumers and small business owners in the world's fourth most populous nation have been rattled for months by skyrocketing cooking oil prices.

As the war between the two major grain and sunflower seed producers sent jitters through global markets, many producers rushed to shift their goods abroad to cash in on soaring rates.

Setiana would travel to a supermarket over an hour from her remote East Java village of Baruharjo to buy a daily eight-litre batch of palm oil that could keep her business alive.

But the 49-year-old mother of two would be turned away, with sellers heavily rationing the commodity used in products ranging from cosmetics to chocolate spreads.

"I was fuming and told the employees that I really need the cooking oil for personal use, not for hoarding," said Setiana, who used to make up to 750,000 rupiah ($52) a day selling her savoury yellow snack.

© BAY ISMOYOAn employee prepares raw tempe, a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans, before being fried into chips

"How come we have cooking oil shortages when Indonesia is the world's top palm oil producer?"

Her battle for supplies is just a snapshot of the cooking oil crisis that has spurred hours-long queues of residents with jerry cans in hand across Indonesia's most populous island, Java, and others such as Borneo.

Two people died in March from exhaustion -- including one who had queued at three different supermarkets, according to local media -- as they waited in searing heat to get their hands on a product that rose to 20,100 rupiah a litre at its height.

© BAY ISMOYOThe owner of a home-based chips industry arranges her tempe chips, a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans in Jakarta

- Counting costs -

 

Indonesia produces about 60 percent of global palm oil supplies, with one-third consumed domestically. India, China, the European Union and Pakistan are among its major export customers.

The squeeze on cooking oil at home forced the Indonesian government to impose a now-lifted ban on exports last month, easing prices and shoring up domestic supplies.

But at the end of May, the price of bulk cooking oil, the most affordable in the country, still hovered at about 18,300 rupiah per litre on average, above the government's target of 14,000 rupiah, according to official data.

The price spike has left many with difficult decisions to make.

Sutaryo, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, runs a tempe chip business out of his home in South Jakarta. He was forced to jack up his prices and lay off four employees to stay afloat.

"After the surge of cooking oil prices, we have to be smart in calculating our production cost. Our consumers are left with no other choice but to accept a higher price for our kripik tempe," he said, referring to the traditional soy-based crackers.

With demand yet to recover, production at Sutaryo's home factory has slid from 300 to 100 kilogrammes a day, and daily revenue is down to six million rupiah from 15 million before the pandemic.

About half-a-dozen workers cut thin slices of tempe before throwing them into frying pans of hot oil, letting them sizzle until crispy.

It is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the business's pre-pandemic peak, said Sutaryo, when he had workers frying tempe chips outside for lack of space.

In April, a damning report revealed catastrophic failings at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, where at least 201 babies and nine mothers might have survived with better maternity care. Last year, the care watchdog for England said patients' human rights may have been breached through "do not resuscitate" decisions made during Covid.

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found

Boris Johnson has been warned that his plan to rip up post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland will provoke a new row with Conservative MPs without necessarily restoring the region’s power-sharing executive. Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, has told the prime minister that the pro-UK Democratic Unionist party, which refused to join the executive after elections in May, has not agreed that it will begin the process of rejoining if the new legislation is published. Meanwhile Conservative whips, who enforce party discipline, have told Johnson, who survived a confidence vote among Tory MPs on Monday by 211 votes to 148, that party grandees will fight the passage of the bill through parliament. Separately the EU has said that if Johnson unilaterally rips up the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of his 2020 Brexit deal, British scientists will be locked out of the €95bn Horizon Europe research project. Ministers had planned to publish legislation overriding the protocol on Wednesday but government officials said that could slip into next week, as Johnson tries to stabilise his party after the damaging revolt by 41 per cent of his MPs. Johnson has argued that the high-stakes move is needed to help shore up the peace process in Northern Ireland. He hopes to persuade the DUP to return to Stormont to share power with Sinn Féin, the nationalist party that won last month’s elections. But Lewis has warned Johnson that hardliners in the DUP could resist a return to Stormont. “Brandon hasn’t definitively said they won’t go in, but we have no firm commitments,” said one official briefed on the discussions. “There are no guarantees. They are in a better place, but it remains to be seen what course of action they take.” Some in the DUP have argued the party should refuse to take part in the executive in the hope that this would lead to new elections, which could allow them to fare better. Failure to form an executive effectively paralyses government in the region. Theresa May, former prime minister, last month said Johnson should consider what the proposed Northern Ireland legislation would say about the UK’s “willingness to abide by treaties which it has signed”. Meanwhile Jesse Norman, the former Treasury minister, told Johnson this week that any breach of the Northern Irish protocol would be “economically very damaging, politically foolhardy and almost certainly illegal”. The bill will also run into fierce opposition from the pro-EU peers in the House of Lords, and the government could face a challenge over the legality of the bill under international law. The legislation will hand ministers powers to switch off parts of the controversial protocol, which creates a trade border in the Irish Sea in order to avoid the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland. One senior Tory MP said: “This bill has law wobble, DUP wobble and party wobble.” Senior Whitehall insiders said Lewis had initially told Johnson that tabling the controversial Northern Ireland Bill would convince the DUP to at least agree that a Speaker be elected to the assembly, enabling caretaker ministers to take up their roles. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson © Brian Lawless/PA However, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, struck an uncompromising tone on Tuesday, writing in The News Letter, the region’s pro-Unionist newspaper, that if the issue of the protocol was not resolved, “then Northern Ireland would be without a devolved government”. A senior DUP insider added that Donaldson “felt under no pressure” to restore the region’s democratic institutions “until the protocol issue is dealt with”. The UK government has obtained legal advice arguing that the bill to override the protocol would be considered legal under international law, based on a higher obligation to protect the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, but that view is expected to be challenged.

Frends Venezuela's Guaido to Have PABNA Bogura Natore Rajib Kumar Covid Update

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Office of President of Ukraine)

The next winter would be very difficult for Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned during his nightly address on Tuesday.

"In the current situation due to Russia's aggression, this will indeed be the most difficult winter of all the years of independence," he said.

Zelensky said he had discussed in a meeting with government officials and representatives of the largest state-owned energy companies "setting up a headquarters to prepare for the next heating season.”

Former New Jersey state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. won the six-way GOP primary in the Garden State’s closely watched 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, setting up a November rematch with Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski.

With 66% of the expected vote in, Kean led the field with 45%, followed by Phil Rizzo, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in New Jersey’s 2021 gubernatorial race with 23% and District 23 Assemblyman Erik Peterson with 16% .

only makes those of us who are trying hard now to make Arthurdale a wonderful place and to preserve our history, but to me, all those people who came before us, it's a way that even though they're not here with us, it honors them, " said Darlene Bolyard, executive director.

Bolyard said she always tells people they can't forget the community members who sold hot dogs to raise funds to restore buildings or those whose husbands climbed and built roofs in the'70s and'80s.

"It was a really exceptional year for us, but again, success doesn't happen overnight, " Bolyard said. "It's longevity. It's endurance, it's perseverance. It's one of my favorite words, when I talk about Arthurdale—resilience and perseverance."

 

On its Facebook page, the association lists three accomplishments by Arthurdale: — The hosting of the Smithsonian exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America in December 2021 and January 2022, which drew hundreds of visitors and featured programs such as weaving, blacksmithing demonstrations and an exhibit on the Richard Mine. — When the Preston County Arts Council dissolved in 2021, Arthurdale absorbed the organization and began offering arts programming to both children and . — Arthurdale was selected as one of 11 sites for the Smithsonian's Coming Home program, which involved working with fourth-to-sixth-grade students on a community project.

Kean’s other challengers in the suburban district, which encompasses Hunterdon County, and parts of Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties, included Township Mayor John Flora and businessman John Isemann.

National Republicans have eyed the 7th District as a potential pickup opportunity as they try to regain control of the House of Representatives after four years in the minority.

Malinowski, who is going for a third term in Congress, defeated Kean — the son of former New Jersey Republican Gov. Tom Kean Sr. — by just 1.2 percentage points in 2020.

Former state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. blasted President Joe Biden for causing inflation.

AP Photo/Mel Evans, File

Since then, Malinowski has faced repeated ethics complaints over his stock trades. In October of last year, the House Office of Congressional Ethics said there was “substantial reason to believe” he violated federal conflict-of-interest rules by failing to disclose dozens of share transactions during 2019 and 2020.

Malinowski has maintained his failure to come clean about the trades was a careless oversight.

He trounced challenger Roger Bacon Tuesday in the Democratic primary, earning 95% of the vote to Bacon’s 5% with a third of all polling precincts reporting when the race was called.

He said there are "issues of purchasing a sufficient amount of gas for the heating season, coal accumulation, and electricity production."
"At this time, we will not be selling our gas and coal abroad. All domestic production will be directed to the internal needs of our citizens," he added.

Ukraine's energy sources: Zelensky said that in light of "the historical accession of Ukraine to the unified energy network of Europe" it will be possible to reduce Russian energy consumption by the neighboring countries and increase Ukraine's "foreign exchange earnings."

Zelensky also said he was planning to repair heat and power plants damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks. "Implementation of this program in the coming months is one of the top tasks for the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine," he said.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will speak to U.S. President Joe Biden over the phone during the Summit of the Americas this week, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said on Tuesday.

Guaido, who the White House recognizes as Venezuela's interim president, will not attend the summit in person, Nichols said in an interview with Mexican newspaper Milenio.

"I hate them": Ex-Russian president threatens to make unnamed enemies "disappear"

Bruno Mars just wants to keep the party going. After collecting one gilded gramophone after another for his hip-swaying hits — most recently as Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak — the Grammy-winning musician aims to liven things up with his rum brand, SelvaRey.

Mars (né Peter Hernandez) is more than just a starry face of the spirits company. He co-owns the Los Angeles-based label, which was launched in 2014 by brothers Seth Gold (a former real estate developer) and Marc Gold (a journalist-turned-retail and restaurant entrepreneur) and their longtime friend, Robert Herzig (who previously worked in business development). The “Leave the Door Open” singer also brought on the rest of the Hooligans — his cohort of longtime musical collaborators — to back the brand.

From CNN's Mariya Knight, Zahid Mahmood and Zahra Ullah

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a profanity-laced Telegram post on Tuesday that his previous entries have been “harsh” because he hates “them” — without specifying who.

"I am often asked why my Telegram posts are so harsh. The answer is — I hate them," Medvedev said. "They're bastards and scum. They want to kill us, Russia. And as long as I'm alive, I'll do everything to make them disappear."

Who does he mean? Medvedev, currently deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, did not specify who he was referring to. However, he has previously been critical of Western government sanctions and responses to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Medvedev has previously warned the United States that Moscow has the "might to put all of our brash enemies in their place," has referred to Polish politicians as “imbeciles”, and slammed reports of war crimes in Bucha as Ukrainian propaganda

Democrat Mike Franken, a retired Navy admiral, will face Republican Chuck Grassley in the race for an Iowa U.S. Senate seat, winning his party nomination Tuesday over two competitors.

Franken beat former congresswoman Abby Finkenauer and physician Glenn Hurst and earned the right to run against Grassley, who is seeking an eighth Senate term and beat back a nominal primary challenge of his own on Tuesday.

shedding tears, Huth testified in a civil trial against Cosby on Tuesday that he molested her when she was 16. She claims Cosby tried to put his hand down her tight pants, exposed himself before he forced Huth to touch him sexually on a bed in a “blue room,” which she says was adjacent to the game room.

“He forced himself on me,” recalled Huth, whose testimony came in the Los Angeles County trial over a lawsuit she filed. Cosby denies her allegations.

“I was shocked to say the least,” she said.

Political Cartoons

View All 516 Images

 

Huth, 64, said the incident happened after she and her high school friend, Donna Samuelson, accompanied Cosby on a visit to the mansion. She said he gave them a tour of the mansion and game room before they played some games including Donkey Kong, and she went to the restroom. She then said Cosby forced her to perform a sex act in the bedroom.

The trial represents one of the last remaining legal claims against Cosby after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction was thrown out by an appeals court last year, and his insurer settled many other lawsuits against his will. He is not attending the trial, and will not testify, but parts of a video deposition he gave shortly after the 2014 lawsuit was filed will be played.

During Huth’s testimony, she said Cosby kept pursuing her after she told him that she was “15 or 16” years old. She claims to have told Cosby that she was on her menstrual cycle – even though she was not – in hopes that he would stop.

“I was trying to deflect,” she said. “But he didn’t stop. I just closed my eyes. … It was so fast. Maybe five minutes. Quick.”

Afterwards, Huth said Cosby walked out the room before she ultimately followed him to the grotto area of the mansion, where both took a photo – which was shown in court. As Huth looked at the photo, she said felt “mad, duped and foolish.”

“I felt let down. I was hurt,” she said. The photo - which has been shown to jurors several times - has Cosby wearing a red beanie and smiling next to the teenage Huth.

 

Franken’s primary win is something of a surprise, given Finkenauer was better known throughout the state after her 2018 victory over a Republican congressman that made her the second-youngest woman elected to Congress. Finkenauer lost in a reelection bid in 2020 but was a frequent presence on cable television and raised millions of dollars toward her Senate run.

In his campaign, Franken emphasized a need to “dial down the political tension” in Washington. He also called for adding a public insurance option to the Affordable Care Act.

Joyce Mahl of Council Bluffs in western Iowa said she voted for Franken because she was unsure Iowans would vote for a Democratic woman in the general election, though Iowa has elected Democratic women, including Finkenauer, to Congress. Mahl’s top priority is a candidate she views as stronger against Grassley.

“If you want Grassley out, you’ve got to vote for the one that you think can beat him,” Mahl, 66, said after voting at a downtown Council Bluffs church.

Franken will nonetheless face stiff headwinds going into the general election against Grassley, who has served seven terms. A state that Democrat Barack Obama won in two presidential elections has steadily shifted to the right in recent years, part of a broader transformation that has spread through the Northern Plains that has made it increasingly difficult for Democrats to compete statewide.

A well-known state lawmaker before she served a single term in the U.S. House, Finkenauer is one of the most prominent Democrats in Iowa.

Mark Hollander, 47, a marketing professional from West Des Moines said he voted for Abby Finkenauer in part because of her background in Congress, but also because she represents a new generation. Finkenauer stressed limiting the number of terms a member of the Senate can serve.

“I do agree with her on term limits,” Hollander said. “I feel that Grassley has not been especially effective in the last decade-plus and has turned more obstructionist at this point.”

Investing Insights with Global Context

Understand how today’s global business practices, market dynamics, economic policies and more impact you with real-time news and analysis from MarketWatch.

 

 

But Finkenauer’s campaign faced an unexpected stumble in April when she nearly didn’t make the primary ballot. Republican activists claimed she hadn’t gathered enough signatures from enough counties. A district judge ruled Finkenauer hadn’t qualified for the ballot, a ruling she called “deeply partisan.” The Iowa Supreme Court overruled that decision and allowed her to run.

Still, the episode turned off a number of veteran state Democratic activists, former candidates and officeholders, prompting some to give Franken a second look. He posted stronger first-quarter fundraising figures than Finkenauer and earned endorsements from some well-known former Finkenauer supporters bothered by her declining to accept responsibility for the filing mistakes.

Grassley, from New Hartford in northern Iowa, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 after serving three terms in the U.S. House.

Bangladesh Online Dhaka Electronic Warfare Turns Raju Sarkar Zonal Officer 2022

 federal judge is considering whether to postpone the execution of an Arizona prisoner who argues the state’s death penalty procedures would violate his rights by subjecting him to unimaginable pain.

Attorneys for Frank Atwood said their client would undergo excruciating suffering if he were strapped to the execution gurney while lying on his back because he has a degenerative spinal condition that has left him in a wheelchair. Atwood is scheduled to be lethally injected Wednesday for his murder conviction in the 1984 killing of 8-year-old Vicki Hoskinson.

At a court hearing Friday, Atwood's lawyers questioned whether the compounded pentobarbital to be used in the execution meets pharmaceutical standards and whether the state has met a requirement that the drug’s expiration date falls after the execution date. They also are challenging Arizona’s protocol for gas chamber executions.

Prosecutors say Atwood is trying to indefinitely postpone his execution through legal maneuvers

Two weeks ago, Atwood declined to choose between lethal injection or the gas chamber, leaving him to be put to death by lethal injection, the state’s default execution method.

Even though he didn’t pick the gas chamber, he is still challenging the state’s lethal gas protocol that calls for the use of hydrogen cyanide gas, which was used in some past U.S. executions and by Nazis to kill 865,000 Jews at the Auschwitz concentration camp alone. His lawyers say hydrogen cyanide gas is unconstitutional and produces agonizing levels of pain in executions.

Without explicitly saying Atwood wants to die by the gas chamber, his lawyers argue he has a right to choose between methods of execution that are constitutional and said the state should switch its lethal gas from hydrogen cyanide gas to nitrogen gas because nitrogen would produce painless deaths.

“They could do that tomorrow,” Joseph Perkovich, one of Atwood’s attorneys, said about nitrogen gas.

Arizona, California, Missouri and Wyoming are the only states with decades-old lethal-gas execution laws still on the books. Arizona, which carried out the last gas chamber execution in the United States more than two decades ago, is the only state to still have a working gas chamber.

In recent years, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Alabama have passed laws allowing executions with nitrogen gas, at least in some circumstances, though experts say it has never been done and no state has established a protocol that would allow it.

Atwood’s lawyers also said Arizona could take up executions by firing squad -- a method of execution not used in the state.

Prosecutors say Atwood’s challenge is not aimed at minimizing the pain he will feel when he is put to death, but rather to delay the execution indefinitely by requesting alternative methods of execution that he knows the state is unable to provide without changes to its execution protocol and the state constitution.

Prosecutors say Atwood can alleviate pain caused by lying on his back by propping himself up with a pillow and using the tilt function on the execution table. They say he will be allowed to continue taking pain medications and will be provided a mild sedative before his execution.

Arizona prosecutors also said nitrogen gas remains untested in executions and that Atwood’s attorneys hadn’t established that nitrogen gas or a firing squad would reduce the risk of severe pain.

Jeffrey Sparks, a lawyer for the state, argued Atwood’s legal claims about lethal gas are moot, saying the execution will be carried out by lethal injection.

 

Authorities have said Atwood kidnapped Hoskinson, whose remains were discovered in the desert northwest of Tucson nearly seven months after her disappearance. Experts could not determine the cause of death from the remains that were found, according to court records.

Atwood maintains that he is innocent.

Last week, a federal appeals court denied a request by Atwood’s lawyers to make new arguments in a bid to overturn his death sentence.

Atwood’s lawyers have said that last summer they discovered an FBI memo describing an anonymous caller claiming to have seen the girl in a vehicle not associated with Atwood, but which could be linked to a woman. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said it couldn’t conclude that the disclosure of the unreported anonymous call would have had any effect on Atwood’s trial and conviction.

On Friday, Atwood’s lawyers also asked the Arizona Supreme Court to stay his execution, making similar arguments about what they said was new evidence of his innocence related to the woman.

Mexico’s president has claimed the leftist candidate in Colombia’s presidential race faces “a dirty war” by “conservatives,” leading the Colombian government to tell President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Friday to stay out of its domestic politics.

López Obrador makes a big point of saying he doesn’t interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and has used that as an excuse to avoid criticizing non-democratic regimes like Nicaragua and Cuba.

But on Friday López Obrador blasted the opposition to front-running presidential candidate, the leftist Gustavo Petro. López Obrador claimed Petro faces a scare campaign, trying to depict him as dangerous radical, something similar to a campaign used against López Obrador in a failed presidential bid in 2006.

“I want to say I'm sending a hug to Petro,” López Obrador. “Why a hug? Because he is facing a dirty war of the most cowardly and undignified kind, everything we suffered in Mexico. All the conservatives are united, unethically."

Colombia's foreign relations ministry shot back on its social media accounts, saying the Mexican president's comments were “an offensive interference in our country's internal affairs.”

“We ask him to respect the autonomy of the Colombian people to choose their next president without interferences that try to influence voters,” the ministry wrote.

Last week Colombian voters chose Sen. Petro, a former rebel, to run in a second round against real estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernández, an outsider populist businessman.

Petro led the field of six candidates Sunday with just over 40% of the votes, while Hernández, who has no close ties to any political parties, finished second with more than 28%.

The petition for information about Daniel Defense, the Georgia-based company that made the firearm, was filed Thursday, according to court papers obtained by NBC News. The filing was on behalf of Emilia Marin, a staff member who had been outside bringing food into Robb Elementary School for an end-of-year party on May 24 when she saw a car crash, her attorney, Don Flanary, told NBC News.

 

Flanary said Marin went inside to grab her cellphone to call 911 about the crash. As she was on the phone with 911, she went back outside and saw the 18-year-old gunman hopping a fence, coming toward the school with a weapon strapped across his chest.

The Justice Department has declined to prosecute two of Donald Trump’s closest White House advisers — former chief of staff Mark Meadows and social media director Dan Scavino — for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 select committee, rejecting the House’s recommendation that the pair be charged with contempt of Congress.

Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C., delivered the news to House Counsel Douglas Letter earlier Friday, according to a person familiar with the correspondence.

After earlier failing to topple Ukraine's government, Russia's military has focused its offensive on the country's eastern Donbas region, which is home to a large population of Russian speakers. New reporting shows Russian forces are increasingly intercepting the Ukrainian military's communications while jamming navigation and guidance systems.

"They are jamming everything their systems can reach," an official with the Aerorozvidka, a Ukrainian agency that develops unmanned aerial vehicles and other military capabilities, told the Associated Press in a report published Friday. "We can't say they dominate, but they hinder us greatly."

 

USA India Covid Today Hold Update Chances of Beating Republicans Rajbari

 Arizona's Democratic Senator Mark Kelly aims to win reelection in November as Republicans see his previously comfortably red seat as a key race to win in their bid to regain control of Congress' upper chamber—with polls currently showing an advantage for the incumbent.

Kelly managed to flip a longtime GOP-held seat blue for Democrats in a special election in 2020. The seat was previously held by Martha McSally, a Republican who was appointed to serve Arizona in the Senate until the special election for the remainder of deceased GOP Senator John McCain's term.

Kelly won in that race by a margin of 2.4 percent. The retired NASA astronaut won the support of 51.2 percent of Arizona voters, compared to 48.8 percent that backed McSally. Prior to the Democratic senator's victory, the Arizona seat had been held by Republicans since 1969. The 2020 election also saw President Joe Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in the southwestern state since 1996.

 

As Arizona's primary won't be held until August 2, it's still unclear whom Kelly will face off against in November. The leading GOP contenders are Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, businessman Jim Lamon and venture capitalist Blake Masters. Former President Donald Trump officially threw his weight behind Masters on Thursday, endorsing his candidacy in the Republican primary. But recent polls show Masters in third place among the GOP hopefuls.

 

Arizona's Democratic Senator Mark Kelly aims to win reelection in November as Republicans see his previously comfortably red seat as a key race to win in their bid to regain control of Congress' upper chamber—with polls currently showing an advantage for the incumbent. Above, Kelly leads a personal tour through the U.S. Capitol on May 25 in Washington, D.C.CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

The latest survey data shows Kelly well-positioned against all three of the top Republican contenders. Blueprint Polling found the Democratic incumbent leading all of his potential GOP rivals by double-digit margins.

 

Kelly performs best against Brnovich, with a lead of 17 points. The incumbent senator has the support of 50 percent of likely voters while Arizona's attorney general is backed by just 33 percent. The results are about the same when Kelly is pitted against Masters, with an identical lead of 17 points. However, the Democrat is only backed by 49 percent of likely voters in that matchup compared to the Trump-backed candidate's 32 percent.

Lamon does slightly better against Kelly. The Republican hopeful is supported by 34 percent in the matchup and the incumbent Democrat has the backing of 48 percent—a difference of 14 points in favor of Kelly. The poll surveyed 608 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

In a previous poll conducted by Data for Progress in January, Kelly appeared to be in a much closer race with Brnovich. The Democrat incumbent had the support of 49 percent of likely voters compared to 47 percent who backed the GOP hopeful—a lead of just 2 points for Kelly. The poll included 1,469 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

That survey did not ask respondents about Kelly versus the other two leading Republicans. However, it did show that the Democrat's favorability with Arizonians was underwater. In total, 49 percent of likely voters in the southwestern state held an unfavorable view of their senator. Just 46 percent held a favorable view. Moreover, more than a third (36 percent) said they held a "very unfavorable" view of Kelly compared to only 30 percent who said they held a "very favorable" opinion of him.

READ MORE

• Republicans' Chances of Beating Democrats for Control of Senate in Midterms
• Liz Cheney's Chances of Beating Trump-Backed Harriet Hageman in Wyoming
• Herschel Walker's Chances of Beating Raphael Warnock, According to Polls

Another January poll carried out by OH Predictive Insights showed Kelly leading when pitted against a generic Republican opponent. That survey found that 42 percent of Arizona's registered voters would back the Democrat's reelection. Meanwhile, 38 percent said they would vote for his GOP challenger. There were 855 registered voters included in the poll with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.

With a little more than five months until the midterm election, and with the Republican challenger still unknown, a lot could change between now and November. Overall, the data suggests Kelly is favored to win reelection, but considering Arizona's historic Republican lean and his relatively narrow victory in 2020, the race will likely be close and could swing back in favor of the GOP. Even with Arizona going for Biden and Kelly in 2020, political news and polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight's assessment shows that the southwestern state continues to have a 7.6 percent partisan lean in favor of Republicans.

Iranian security forces on Friday arrested a young man following an assault on a top provincial cleric in the central city of Isfahan, Iranian media reported. The cleric appeared unharmed in a video broadcast after the attack.

According to the semiofficial Fars news agency, the unidentified man accosted prayer leader Yousef Tababaeinejad as he was talking with some worshipers after Friday prayers and attempted to stab him in the neck with a “sharp metal object."

The report said mosque guards quickly detained the him and added that the case is under investigation.

A video on Iranian media later showed Tababaeinejad speaking to a reporter afterward and saying the assailant seemed to be a young man, in his 20s.

Such attacks are uncommon in Iran though in the early 1980s, clerics were targeted by armed opposition groups, mostly during or after Friday prayers. Over the past months, there have been chants against clerics during protest gatherings in Iran over price hikes and the slashing of subsidies by the government.

In early April, a stabbing attack in the revered Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad killed three clerics — a rare act of violence at the major pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims.

Tababaeinejad, a hard-line cleric appointed by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is known as a vocal opponent of social media and music, saying they are part of the West's software war against Islamic beliefs.

Princess Anne visited Edinburgh Zoo on the second day of celebrations to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Street parties were also held across the country to honour the first monarch to reach the milestone.

On Thursday the festivities got under way with a Royal gun salute at Edinburgh Castle, before beacons were lit across the country.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led tributes in Scotland and hailed the Queen's "selfless commitment to duty".

The Queen was also praised for "staying the course" as royals joined dignitaries at a thanksgiving service for the Platinum Jubilee at St Paul's Cathedral.

 

Referring to her love of horse racing, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said the 96-year-old monarch was "still in the saddle", even though she was not able to attend.

Biden told reporters that he does not yet have direct plans to make a trip to Saudi Arabia but if he does it would be to try to advance Middle East peace prospects.

Sources familiar with the process say Biden is planning a trip to Saudi Arabia in conjunction with a trip to Europe and Israel in late June.

As recently as Wednesday, the White House said Biden still felt bin 

PABNA BANGLADESH act to cool rising Indo-Pacific temperatures Natore News

 The temperature in the Indo-Pacific region is rising, not only because of global warming but more because of the increasing tensions between the United States and China. Their rivalry is no longer confined to the exchange of harsh words. Both are actively seeking to build alliances, expand their sphere of influence and beef up military strength.

Indonesia, like all other countries in the region, is caught up in this rivalry between the two superpowers, but unlike most of them, it has managed to stay unaligned with either camp. This affords Indonesia the space and opportunity to help cool down tensions.

Now more than ever, Indonesia should use every power and leverage available at its disposal to conduct more aggressive diplomacy to preserve peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

We should not underestimate our credentials as peacemakers but neither should we overrate ourselves. Indonesia is the fourth-largest country in the world and the largest member of ASEAN, and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is this year’s president of the Group of 20 world’s wealthiest nations.

Without the economic means and military power, these credentials may not be enough for Indonesia to prevail over the two superpowers to tell them to deescalate tensions, but this should not stop President Jokowi and his diplomatic machinery from trying.

The question is, if not Indonesia, who else has the capacity to stop the current cold war from shifting into a hot war? Most countries in the region that could make a difference are already aligning themselves with the US.

This is not the time to finger-point at who began the escalation. Statements and actions by both sides have contributed to the tensions, and unless restrained, they can only get worse.

ohammad Younes Menfi, Head of the Presidential Council of Libya sent a letter to President Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

“Your Excellency,

It is my pleasure to extend to you and the friendly people of Azerbaijan my best wishes on the occasion of the national holiday of your country- the Independence Day.

On this remarkable day, I wish the people of Azerbaijan peace, progress and prosperity.

Please accept Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest esteem and consideration,” the letter said.

Egils Levits, President of the Republic of Latvia also sent a congratulatory letter.

“Your Excellency,

On the occasion of the celebration of the National Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I extend my most sincere congratulations along with wishes for long years of peace and prosperity for Azerbaijan and its people.

It is my firm belief that the well-established cooperation between Latvia and Azerbaijan will continue to develop and strengthen in the years to come. It is in the long-term interest of our nations to further intensify our political, economic and cultural dialogue.

Today, when Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has shaken the peace and stability in the region, we need to stand in unity to protect the shared values and principles, and the very basis of the international order based on the Charter of the United Nations.

I am confident that through working together we will ensure that our people thrive in peace and security.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration along with the best wishes of health and strength to you and the people of Azerbaijan,” the letter said.

Jose Daniel Ortega Saavedra, President of the Republic of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, Vice-president of the Republic of Nicaragua also congratulated President Ilham Aliyev.

“Dear brother,

On the special occasion of commemorating the 104th anniversary of the Independence Day, this coming 28 May, we wish to express on behalf of the People and Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of the Republic of Nicaragua, and on our own behalf, our warmest congratulations to you and to the people and government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On this historic and memorable date, we accompany the people of Azerbaijan in celebrating the victories of self-determination, national sovereignty and independence and we reiterate the unwavering determination of the people and government of Nicaragua, to continue working together with the people and government of Azerbaijan, in building a world of peace, solidarity and cooperation, with a multipolar, fair and equitable world order in which the fundamental principles of international law are respected.

From our always blessed and always free Nicaragua receive our fraternal embrace with the love and respect of the Nicaraguan families,” the letter said.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of the Republic of Maldives sent a letter on the occasion to President Ilham Aliyev.

“Excellency,

On the happy occasion of the Independence Day of Azerbaijan, the government and the people of the Maldives join me in extending warm greetings and sincere good wishes to your Excellency, the government and the people of Azerbaijan.

Let me also extend, Excellency, my personal best wishes for your good health and happiness, and for further progress and prosperity of the people of Azerbaijan,” the letter said.

Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica congratulated President Ilham Aliyev.

“On behalf of the government and people of Jamaica, I extend warm congratulations to the government and people of the Republic of Azerbaijan as you celebrate the 104th anniversary of the Independence Day.

Jamaica values greatly the relations, which we have enjoyed since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995, and looks forward to increased opportunities to strengthen cooperation in the years to come.

Please accept, Excellency, my very best wishes for the continued peace and prosperity of the government and people of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the letter said.

Ilir Meta, President of the Republic of Albania also extended congratulations to President Ilham Aliyev.

“Your Excellency,

I cherish the special pleasure to convey, also on behalf of the Albanian people the sincere and wholehearted wishes to you and to the Azerbaijani people as well.

On this important day for your country and people, I have the pleasure to point out the very good level of the progress of the excellent and friendly relations between our two countries and peoples, and also to express my conviction that these bilateral relations and cooperation will continue to further grow and strengthen in the future thanks to our joint willingness and engagement.

In an unusual attack on Pakistan's powerful military, ousted prime minister Imran Khan has admitted that his government was a "weak one" which was "blackmailed from everywhere" as the power was not with him and "everyone knows where that is".

Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

In an interview to Bol News on Wednesday, Khan was asked to recall the events of the night of the no-confidence vote against him, who was issuing orders and who had impeded the cases against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief said his government had been "weak" when it came to power and had to seek coalition partners, adding that if the same situation were to arise again, he would opt for re-elections and seek a majority government or none at all.

"Our hands were tied. We were blackmailed from everywhere. Power wasn't with us. Everyone knows where the power lies in Pakistan so we had to rely on them," the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician said, without elaborating any further who he was referring to.

Khan, who came to power in 2018, reportedly with the backing of the military, is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He was replaced by PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif.

He said it was imperative for the country to have a "strong army" due to the threat posed by the enemies but said there was also the need to strike a "balance" between having a strong army and a strong government.

"We relied on them all the time. They did a lot of good things too but they didn't do many things that should've been done. They have the power because they control institutions such as NAB (National Accountability Bureau), which wasn't in our control," he said.

The former prime minister said while his government had the responsibility, it did not have all the power and the authority.

The Pakistan Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 73 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy. However, the army has continuously denied its involvement in politics.

According to experts, Khan, who was ousted on April 10 after the National Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him, had apparently lost support of the Army after he refused to endorse the appointment of Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as the ISI spy agency chief last year. Finally, he agreed but it soured his ties with the Army.

During the interview, Khan said, "No management works if I have responsibility but have no complete power and authority. A system works only when responsibility and authority are in one place."

The PTI chief said the current political situation was a problem for the country as well as the establishment. "If the establishment doesn't make the right decisions then I can assure in writing that (before everyone else) they and the army will be destroyed because of what will become of the country if it goes bankrupt," he said.

"Pakistan is going towards a default. If that happens then which institution will be (the worst) hit? The army. After it is hit, what concession will be taken from us? Denuclearisation," Khan said.

Khan said that if Pakistan were to lose its nuclear deterrent capability, it would be fragmented into three pieces. "If the right decisions aren't made at this time then the country is going towards suicide," he warned.

Prodded further to share his thoughts on the night of the no-confidence vote, Imran declined to go into details and said: "History never forgives anyone. Things come out. If you ask me, I won't go into details, but when history will be written then it'll be counted as such a night in which Pakistan and its institutions were damaged a lot.

Natore Pabna full transparency’ over Champions Jahidul Islam Dhaka Bd 2022

 President Emmanuel Macron urged the French government on Wednesday to investigate with “full transparency” the chaos at this weekend’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, as the interior minister came under increasing pressure over the police’s handling.

Natore Pabna full transparency’ over Champions Jahidul Islam Dhaka Bd 2022

 

PAKISTAN prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited Turkish businesses to invest in his country, saying Islamabad “sincerely” seeks to strengthen bilateral ties with Ankara.

The mayhem outside the Stade de France stadium ahead of the match, which saw thousands of Liverpool supporters with tickets struggle to enter and police respond with tear gas, raised questions over the capacity of Paris to host the Olympic Games in 2024.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has faced growing criticism and accusations of lying after he blamed the chaos on massive ticket scams.

‘At the moment we’re not getting what we payed for and it’s a disgrace. I do a lot of travelling and I have to say my experience with security people is always positive. They’re focused, mature about what they do and methodical.’

Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

While a listener named Anne blasted the Dublin Airport controversy as she admitted she has no plans of travelling anytime soon.

She explained: ‘I think it’s absolutely shocking and as someone said there “it’s like putting cattle into holding pen before they went to the mart”…

‘I used to believe before all this COVID thing that I was a terrific traveller, travelled all over the world. I wouldn’t dream of travelling at the moment due to the conditions.’

Twitter users flocked to have their say on the Liveline debate, where one woman asked ‘can you imagine asking elderly people to stand in a tent’.

Islamabad and Ankara should achieve an ambitious bilateral trade target of $5 billion which was “difficult but not impossible”, Shehbaz, who came to power amid rising inflation and depleting forex reserves in his country, said.

“Your active participation in investments in Pakistan is highly appreciated. And above all your participation in humanitarian projects in Pakistan is very well-known. Today, we are here to seriously engage ourselves with you because you are very serious-minded business people, and your achievements are outstanding and a shining example for all of us,” he said.

“We genuinely and sincerely want to work with the Turkey Business fraternity to transform our brotherhood into promoting our bilateral trade, investment and culture,” the south Asian country’s information and broadcasting minister Marriyum Aurangzeb quoted the prime minister as saying.

Sharif’s invitation to Turkish investors comes as Pakistan is buckling under crippling debt and a falling currency.

Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had visited its weather ally China recently as Islamabad sought to address its economic headwinds, complicated by the rising fuel costs and a delayed IFM help.

Government spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire said that the matter had been briefly discussed at Wednesday’s regular cabinet meeting chaired by Macron, who has yet to comment publicly.

“What the president wants… is that light is shone on what really happened, in full transparency, and very quickly,” she told reporters, while emphasising Darmanin had Macron’s “full confidence”.

She said Macron also expected action from the government to ensure that this “never happens again”.

“Simply put, could we have done things better, could it have been better managed? Yes,” she acknowledged. “Were there wounded, a tragedy? No. Can we improve things for future sporting events? Certainly.”

She confirmed that 2,700 supporters had been unable to watch the match due to the chaos.

“The president of the republic and all his government are sad and sorry for these people who lost out.”

Despite the public professions of support, French media reports said that Macron was privately furious with Darmanin, 39, a high-flying right-winger.

The Canard Enchaine satirical weekly said that Macron had told Darmanin that what happened was a “heavy blow for France”.

“We can say that he was furious,” BFM TV cited a source close to Macron as saying.

“The minister of the interior was expressly asked to step up and stop insisting that we were not to blame,” the source added.

The Egyptian president has called for EU support for his country’s position on the ‘existential’ Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as the two sides look to step up political and economic relations against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al Sisi told EU enlargement commissioner Olivér Várhelyi that the fate of the dam was an ‘existential issue’ for Egypt and its people and requested the bloc’s support during a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday (1 June).

The dam across the River Nile in northern Ethiopia is set to generate 5.15 gigawatts of electricity, making the dam the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa, and one of the largest in the world when completed. However, its implications for the water supply to Egypt and Sudan are vast. In 2020, Ethiopia began filling the dam’s reservoir without the consent of its two neighbours.

Negotiations over the dam, particularly over the distribution of water and energy supplies, between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan mediated at different stages by the United States and the African Union, with the EU as an observer, have been stalled for years.

The European Commission views Egypt as a strategically important country in both the Maghreb region and Africa, and its importance in terms of energy policy and wider geopolitics has increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two sides are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Israel in the coming weeks to export natural gas to EU countries, Israel’s energy minister confirmed on Monday.

The Israeli gas will go through pipelines from Israel to Egypt, and then be shipped to Europe, she said.

In April, Italian energy company Eni signed a deal with Egypt’s EGAS that will see Egypt expanding gas exports to Europe to three billion cubic metres of liquified natural gas from 2022. The European Commission is expected to launch official talks with gas-producing nations in Africa in the coming days.

“Egypt is the link between the Arab and European worlds, and the axis of maintaining security and stability in the Middle East and the African continent,” said Várhelyi, in a statement following his meeting with al Sisi.

However, Egypt has been hit by the aftershocks of the war in Ukraine. One of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine, it has been allocated €100 million from a €225 million EU fund to support North African countries facing wheat supply shortages, although EU leaders indicated at the European Council summit this week that this fund’s scope and resources will be increased.

This week, Polish President Andrzej Duda has also been courting al Sisi’s support on his first-ever official visit to Egypt with a view to importing liquefied gas from Egypt to Poland.

Mr Dalton said prior to appearing to the Oireachtas Transport Committee: ‘Passengers that arrive too early for their flights will be asked to wait in a dedicated passenger holding area with special consideration being given to those passengers who require special assistance and those Important Flyers travelling with autism.’

Bad weather cover, seating and toilets will all be provided in the holding area ‘as quickly as possible’, with Mr Dalton adding the ‘trialling of this system’ will take place over the June bank holiday weekend.

Joe Duffy’s Liveline on Wednesday afternoon was full of angry listeners having their say on the announcement.