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Michaelia Cash calls on Anthony Albanese to ‘be upfront’ over reported return of Bali Nine prisoners Michaelia Cash calls on Anthony Albanese to ‘be upfront’ over reported return of Bali Nine prisoners Anthony Albanese has been called to explain the reported deal which could result in the return of the five *********** prisoners who have been jailed in Indonesia since 2005. Source link #Michaelia #Cash #calls #Anthony #Albanese #upfront #reported #return #Bali #prisoners Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Refused service yet again with my guide dog ‘Refused service yet again with my guide dog As a guide dog handler of 25 and a half years, I’ve had hundreds of experiences of being refused service – but online threats and increasing hostility towards disabled people mean I’m giving up on asking publicly for equality and respect. The last straw came about a week ago. I was already reeling from a number of refusals by restaurants and shops when, once again, I was refused entry because I have a guide dog. I visited the restaurant, which I have chosen not to name, but was told I couldn’t enter as people could have allergies. This, by the way, is unlawful. They later changed their reason – saying they simply had no space. It’s difficult to describe how this feels. I don’t think you can understand it unless you know what it is like to face daily discrimination. I compare the feeling to December 2022 when I was briefly robbed of my smartphone near the BBC building in central London. Unlike street robberies, refusals are rarely violent or physical, but the feeling of being slugged in the gut is identical. I argue refusals feel worse – because at least I can understand the motivation of robbers. Chris McCausland: ‘Perception of people with disabilities is antiquated’ Plea for guide dog fosterers to help ‘change lives’ I have never understood why, when everyone on the planet is one accident or medical condition away from disability, many people seem to lack any empathy and do not attempt to understand how it must feel to be refused service because of a disability. After failing to politely persuade the restauranteurs that my guide dog was well-behaved and then reiterating that it is unlawful to refuse access, one customer who’d overheard me voiced their disgust at the restaurant’s attitude. I invited people who witnessed the refusal to leave a review. Two voices from another table, however, said that I had “ruined their meal” and “you should leave”. I felt as small as a gnat. My guide dog journey began in 1998, when I first applied to train with one. I had poor partial sight up until the year before when, as a 14-year-old, I became completely ******. I suffer from several eye conditions but hypertension is ultimately the reason for losing my sight. Put simply, leaving my house is hard. Very fatiguingly hard. I’ve been privileged to work with four wonderful guides – Brandy, Chipp, Sammy and now Shawn. They’ve been my life, my freedom and independence. That all feels ripped away from me when I’m refused service. At the restaurant, more customers expressed their shock at the way I was treated. But for me, the customers who seemed annoyed sparked echoes in my mind of every occasion I’ve shared refusals to social media over the past eight years. There I’ve faced constant demands to justify why I should want equal treatment and, more perturbingly, threats of ********* and even ******. Two years ago, I was refused access to different branches of Tesco in London. Tesco apologised and promised further training for staff. The encounters were captured on a privately owned body-camera. Many people were supportive but large numbers were highly abusive and aggressive. I have received ****** on many social media platforms. Recently one user, who identified himself as a retired police officer, posted pictures of “victim cards” which, ironically, I was unable to appreciate until described to me by a sighted colleague. His account was later suspended – but the post was not removed when I reported it. Other users have asked why I’m sharing my experience of service rejection. I would reply to as many questions as possible and explain that it was simply to shine a torch into a dark corner. On other occasions, social media users have threatened to punch me, ***** my guide dog and tell me I need to “be careful”. One user said my mother should be ******. Often the most vile ****** comes in the replies to lengthy threads, where discourse seems to get out of hand. Why would I continue to put myself through this? Sean Dilley, who had partial sight until he was 14, began using guide dogs in 1998 and has had four since then including Brandy [Sean Dilley] In England, Wales and Scotland, the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a disabled person because they have a guide dog with them when accessing businesses or services. In Northern Ireland, the same is true but the legislation is named the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. There is a large anomaly in the law though. When taxis and cabs fail or refuse to carry an assistance dog, or attempt to charge more, it is a ********* offence. When businesses and shops do the same, it’s a civil matter and it’s down to the individual disabled person to gather evidence and pursue them. It’s costly, energy-sapping and mostly not worth doing. Raising the incidents on social media feels torturous when it means being threatened. So I’ve had to accept there’s very little I can practically do. Seeing is easy. What seems ******* for some, though, is trying to understand what it feels like to be barred from businesses when you can’t. [BBC] In Touch – Guide Dogs Q&A Peter White is joined on Radio 4 by Pete Osborne, chief operations officer at the charity Guide Dogs, to answer questions from listeners. Many have been asking how the organisation operates in regards to waiting lists, training methods, and eligibility for new and replacement guides. More on this story Source link #Refused #service #guide #dog Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

India’s ‘rebel’ ******* princess who shot tigers and drove a Rolls-Royce India’s ‘rebel’ ******* princess who shot tigers and drove a Rolls-Royce Shams Ur Rehman Alavi Abida Sultaan was the eldest daughter of the last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan Abida Sultaan was nothing like your typical princess. She wore her hair short, shot tigers and was an ace polo player. She flew planes and drove herself around in a Rolls-Royce from the age of nine. Born in 1913 into a family of brave ‘begums’ (a ******* woman of high rank) who ruled the northern princely state of Bhopal in British India for over a century, Abida continued their legacy of defying stereotypes around women in general and ******* women in particular. She refused to be in purdah – a practice followed by *******, and some Hindu women, of wearing clothes that conceal them and secluding themselves from men – and became heir to the throne at the age of 15. Abida ran her father’s cabinet for more than a decade, rubbed shoulders with India’s prominent freedom fighters and would eventually come to have a ringside view of the hate and ********* the country disintegrated into after it was partitioned in 1947 to create Pakistan. She was groomed from a young age to take on the mantle of ruler under the guidance of her grandmother, Sultan Jehan, a strict disciplinarian who was the ruler of Bhopal. In her 2004 autobiography, Memoirs of a Rebel Princess, Abida writes about how she had to wake up at four in the morning to read the Quran – the religious text of Islam – and then proceed with a day filled with activities, which included learning sports, music and horse riding, but also included chores like sweeping the floor and cleaning bathrooms. “We ****** were not allowed to feel any inferiority on account of our ****. Everything was equal. We had all the freedom that a boy had; we could ride, climb trees, play any game we chose to. There were no restrictions,” she said in an interview about her childhood. Abida had a fierce, independent streak even as a child and rebelled against her grandmother when she forced her into purdah at the age of 13. Her chutzpah coupled with her father’s broad-mindedness helped her escape the practice for the rest of her life. Already heir to the throne of Bhopal, Abida stood the chance of becoming part of the royal family of the neighbouring princely state of Kurwai as well when at the age of 12, she was married off to Sarwar Ali Khan, her childhood friend and ruler Kurwai. She described her nikah (wedding), about which she was clueless, in hilarious detail in her memoir. She writes about how one day, while she was pillow-fighting with her cousins, her grandmother walked into the room and asked her to dress up for a wedding. Only, no one told her that she was the bride. “No-one had prepared or instructed me on how to conduct myself, with the result that I walked into the nikah chamber, pushing the gathered women out of my way, my face uncovered, sulking as usual for being chosen again for some new experiment,” she writes. The wedding was brief like Abida’s marriage, which lasted for less than a decade. Shams Ur Rehman Alavi Abida was an accomplished polo player and marksman Married life was difficult for Abida, not just because of her young age but also because of her strict, pious upbringing. She candidly describes how a lack of knowledge and discomfort with **** took a toll on her marriage. “Immediately after my wedding, I entered the world of conjugal trauma. I had not realised that the consummation that followed would leave me so horrified, numbed and feeling unchaste,” she writes and adds that she could never bring herself to “accept marital relations between husband and wife”. This led to the breakdown of her marriage. In her paper on intimacy and sexuality in the autobiographical writings of ******* women in South Asia, historian Siobhan Lambert-Hurley underscores how Abida’s honest reflections on ******* intimacy with her husband tear apart the stereotype that ******* women do not write about ****, by presenting an unabashed voice on the topic. After her marriage fell apart, Abida left her marital home in Kurwai and moved back to Bhopal. But the couple’s only son, Shahryar Mohammad Khan, became the subject of an ugly custody dispute. Frustrated by the drawn-out battle and not wanting to part with her son, Abida took a bold step to make her husband back off. On a warm night in March 1935, Abida drove for three hours straight to reach her husband’s home in Kurwai. She entered his bedroom, pulled out a revolver, threw it in her husband’s lap and said: “****** me or I will ****** you.” This incident, coupled with a physical confrontation between the couple in which Abida emerged victorious, put an end to the custody dispute. She proceeded to raise her son as a single mother while juggling her duties as heir to the throne. She ran her state’s cabinet from 1935 till 1949, when Bhopal was merged with the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Abida also attended the round-table conferences – called by the British government to decide the future government of India – during which she met influential leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and his son, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was to become India’s first prime minister. She also experienced first-hand the deteriorating relationship between Hindus and Muslims and the ********* that broke out in the aftermath of India’s partition in 1947. Shams Ur Rehman Alavi Abida immigrated to Pakistan in 1950 In her memoir Abida describes the discrimination she began facing in Bhopal; how her family, who had lived there peacefully for generations, began to be treated as “outsiders”. In one of her interviews, she spoke about a particularly disturbing memory she had of the ********* that broke out between Hindus and Muslims. One day, after the Indian government informed her that a train carrying ******* refugees would arrive in Bhopal, she went to the railway station to supervise the arrival. “When the compartments were opened, they were all *****,” she said and added that it was this ********* and distrust that drove her to move to Pakistan in 1950. Abida left quietly, with only her son and hopes for a brighter future. In Pakistan, she championed democracy and women’s rights through her political career. Abida ***** in Karachi in 2002. After she left for Pakistan, the Indian government had made her sister heir to the throne. But Abida is still known in Bhopal, where people refer to her by her nickname ‘bia huzoor’. “Religious politics over the past few years have chipped away at her legacy and she isn’t spoken about as much any more,” says journalist Shams Ur Rehman Alavi, who has been researching Bhopal’s women rulers. “But her name isn’t likely to be forgotten anytime soon.” Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Source link #Indias #rebel #******* #princess #shot #tigers #drove #RollsRoyce Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘We knew Christmas before your ancestors’ ‘We knew Christmas before your ancestors’ AFP Orthodox ********** Christians celebrate Christmas on 7 January Forty years on from the original recording, the cream of British and Irish pop music past and present are once again asking whether Ethiopians know it is Christmas. In 1984, responding to horrific images of the famine in northern Ethiopia broadcast on the BBC, musicians Bob Geldof and Midge Ure corralled some of the biggest stars of the era to record a charity song. The release of the Band Aid single, and the Live Aid concert that followed eight months later, became seminal moments in celebrity fundraising and set a template that many others followed. Do They Know It’s Christmas? is back on Monday with a fresh mix of the four versions of the song that have been issued over the years. But the chorus of disapproval about the track, its stereotypical representation of an entire continent – describing it as a place “where nothing ever grows; no rain nor rivers flow” – and the way that recipients of the aid have been viewed as emaciated, helpless figures, has become louder over time. “To say: ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ is funny, it is insulting,” says Dawit Giorgis, who in 1984 was the ********** official responsible for getting the message out about what was happening in his country. His incredulity decades on is obvious in his voice and he remembers how he and his colleagues responded to the song. “It was so untrue and so distorted. Ethiopia was a ********** country before England… we knew Christmas before your ancestors,” he tells the BBC. But Mr Dawit has no doubt that the philanthropic response to the BBC film, by British journalist Michael Buerk and Kenyan cameraman Mohamed Amin, saved lives. Getty Images A few weeks after the BBC film was broadcast in October 1984, Bob Geldof (L) and Midge Ure (R) managed to persuade the top musicians to turn up on a Sunday at a recoding studio in west London As the head of Ethiopia’s Relief and Rehabilitation Commission he had managed to smuggle the TV crew into the country. This was despite the government at that time, which was marking 10 years of Marxist rule and fighting a civil war, not wanting news of the famine to get out. “The way the British people responded so generously strengthened my ****** in humanity,” he says, speaking from Namibia where he now works. He praises the “young and passionate people” behind Band Aid – describing them as “amazing”. His questioning of the song, whilst also recognising its impact, sums up the debate for many who might feel that when lives need to be saved the ends justify the means. Geldof was typically robust in defending it responding to a recent article in The Conversation about the “problematic Christmas hit”. “It’s a pop song [expletive]… The same argument has been made many times over the years and elicits the same wearisome response,” he is quoted as saying. “This little pop song has kept hundreds of thousands if not millions of people alive.” He also recognises that Ethiopians celebrate Christmas but says that in 1984 “ceremonies were abandoned”. In an email to the BBC, Joe Cannon, the chief financial officer of the Band Aid Trust, said that in the past seven months the charity has given more than £3m ($3.8m) helping as many as 350,000 people through a host of projects in Ethiopia, as well as Sudan, Somaliland and Chad. He adds that Band Aid’s swift action as a “first responder” encourages others to donate where funds are lacking, especially in northern Ethiopia, which is once again emerging from a civil war. But this is not enough to dampen the disquiet. In the last week, Ed Sheeran has said he is not happy about his voice from the 2014 recording – made to raise funds for the West ******** Ebola crisis – being used as his “understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed”. He was influenced by British-Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG, who himself had refused to take part a decade ago. “The world has changed but Band Aid hasn’t,” he told the BBC’s Focus on ******* podcast this week. “It’s saying there’s no peace and joy in ******* this Christmas. It’s still saying there’s ****** in every tear,” he said referring to the lyrics of the 2014 version. “I go to Ghana every Christmas… every December so we know there’s peace and joy in ******* this Christmas, we know there isn’t ****** in every tear.” Fuse ODG does not deny that there are problems to be resolved but “Band Aid takes one issue from one country and paints the whole continent with it”. The way that Africans were portrayed in this and other fundraising efforts had had a direct effect on him, he said. When growing up “it was not cool to be ******** in the ***… [because of] the way that I looked, people were making fun of me”, the singer said. Research into the impact of charity fundraisers by British-********* King’s College lecturer Edward Ademolu backs this up. He himself remembers the short films shot in ******* by Comic Relief, which had been influenced by Band Aid, and that his “******** peers at [a British] primary school would passionately deny their ******** roots, calling all Africans – with great certainty – smelly, unintelligent and equated them to wild animals”. Images of dangerously thin Africans became common currency in efforts to elicit funds. The cover for the original Band Aid single, designed by pop artist Sir Peter Blake, features colourful Christmas scenes contrasted with two gaunt ********** children, in ****** and white, each eating what looks like a life-saving biscuit. For part of the poster for the Live Aid concert the following year, Sir Peter used a photograph of the back of an anonymous, ******, skeletal child. That image was used again in the art work for the 2004 release and it has appeared once more this year. For many working in the aid sector, as well as academics who study it, there is shock and surprise that the song and its imagery keep coming back. The umbrella body Bond, which works with more than 300 charities including ********** Aid, Save the Children and Oxfam, has been very critical of the release of the new mix. “Initiatives like Band Aid 40 perpetuate outdated narratives, reinforce racism and colonial attitudes that strip people of their dignity and agency,” Lena Bheeroo, Bond’s head of anti-racism and equity, said in a statement. Geldof had previously dismissed the idea that Band Aid’s work was relying on “colonial tropes”. The way that charities raise funds has undergone big changes in recent years. Getty Images In 1984, U2’s Bono sang one of the most memorable lines of the song: “Tonight thank **** it’s them instead of you” While remaining critical, Kenyan satirist and writer Patrick Gathara, who often mocks Western views of *******, agrees things have shifted. “There has been a push within humanitarian agencies to start seeing people in a crisis first as human beings and not as victims, and I think that’s a big, big change,” he tells the BBC. “In the days of Live Aid, all you really had were these images of starvation and suffering… the idea that these are people were incapable of doing anything for themselves and that was always a misconception.” The fallout from the ****** Lives Matter protests added impetus to the change that was already happening. A decade ago, a Norwegian organisation Radi-Aid made it its mission to highlight the way that ******* and Africans were presented in fundraising campaigns using humour. For example, it co-ordinated a mock campaign to get Africans to send radiators to Norwegians who were supposedly suffering in the cold. In 2017, Sheeran himself won one of their “Rusty Radiator” awards for a film he made for Comic Relief in Liberia in which he offered to pay for some homeless Liberian children to be put up in a hotel room. The organisers of the awards said “the video should be less about Ed shouldering the burden alone but rather appealing to the wider world to step in”. University of East Anglia academic David Girling, who once wrote a report for Radi-Aid, argues that its work is one of the reasons that things have shifted. More and more charities are introducing ethical guidelines for their campaigns, he says. “People have woken up to the damage that can be caused,” he tells the BBC. Prof Girling’s own research, carried out in Kibera, a slum area in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, showed that campaigns involving and centred on those who are the targets of the charitable assistance could be more effective than the traditional top down efforts. Many charities are still under pressure to use celebrities to help raise awareness and money. The professor says that some media outlets will not touch a fundraising story unless a celebrity is involved. But work by his colleague Martin Scott suggests that big stars can often distract from the central message of a campaign. Whereas the celebrity might benefit, the charity and the understanding of the issue that it is working on lose out. If a Band Aid-type project were to get off the ground now it would have to be centred on ******** artists, music journalist Christine Ochefu tells the BBC. “The landscape for ******** artists and ******** music has changed so much that if there was a new release it would need to come from afrobeats artists or amapiano artists or afro-pop artists,” she argues “I don’t think people could get way without thinking about the sentiment and imagery associated with the project and it couldn’t continue the saviour narrative that Band Aid had.” As King’s College academic Dr Ademolu argues: “Perhaps it’s time to abandon the broken record and start anew – a fresh tune where ******* isn’t just a subject, but a co-author, harmonising its own story.” When Michael Buerk’s report was broadcast in 1984 it spurred a huge fundraising effort You may also be interested in:Getty Images/BBC Source link #knew #Christmas #ancestors Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Hard right's Simion in with a chance as Romanians vote Hard right's Simion in with a chance as Romanians vote Romanians are going to to the polls to elect a new president, with hard-right politician George Simion being touted as a serious contender for the top job. Source link #Hard #right039s #Simion #chance #Romanians #vote Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Elon Musk and Neil deGrasse Tyson Exchange Barbs on Mars Colonization Elon Musk and Neil deGrasse Tyson Exchange Barbs on Mars Colonization He may or may not be buying MSNBC, but Elon Musk isn’t taking any put-downs from Neil de Grasse Tyson on his Mars ambitions. The entrepreneur responded today to deGrasse Tyson’s barbed comments on Friday’s Bill Maher “Overtime” regarding the feasibility of going to Mars. The two have long warred over the Mars question. Musk views Mars colonization as necessary to humanity’s survival, while Tyson sees it as secondary to solving Earth’s immediate challenges. It’s an argument that has raged among scientists and culture observers as far back as the dawn of space exploration in the last century. In this latest squabble over Mars, Maher asked deGrasse Tyson how long it would take for Musk to “realistically send humans to Mars.” Maher played to a longstanding position of deGrasse Tyson, who has insisted we focus on bettering earth. “How badly would we have to rat f**k Earth before it’s worse than a place that’s 200 below zero with no air and no water with six months to reach it?!” Maher asked. Tyson yelled, “Preach it! Preach it” “I have strong views on that,” deGrasse Tyson said. “My read of the history of space exploration is such that we do big, expensive things only when it’s geopolitically expedient, such as we feel threatened by an ******. And so for him to just say, let’s go to Mars because it’s the next thing to do. What is that venture capitalist meeting look like? ‘So, Elon, what do you want to do?’ ‘I want to go to Mars?’ ‘How much will it cost?’ ‘$1 trillion.’ ‘Is it safe?’ ‘No. People will probably ****.’ ‘What’s the return on the investment?’ ‘Nothing.’ That’s a five minute meeting. And it doesn’t happen.” “At some point somebody has to pay for it and just being interested in something is not the same thing as paying for it.” Musk responded Saturday on X, metaphorically slapping his forehead in disbelief. “Wow, they really don’t get it. Mars is critical to the long-term survival of consciousness. Also, I’m not going to ask any venture capitalists for money. I realize that it makes no sense as an investment. That’s why I’m gathering resources.” Musk then got in a darker mood, questioning deGrasse Tyson’s motives for his comments. “The real problem is that Neil decided to grovel to the woke far left when he got hit with a #MeToo. You can avoid being canceled if you beg for forgiveness and push their nonsense ideology. The truth hurts.” The billionaire went on to make his case for doing a Mars venture. “Even if we fail at creating a Mars colony that can grow without continuous support from Earth, the absurdly ambitious nature of the goal nonetheless results in the creation of alien-level technology that is crushingly better than competitors who merely aim for Earth orbit.” The post Elon Musk and Neil deGrasse Tyson Exchange Barbs on Mars Colonization appeared first on TheWrap. Source link #Elon #Musk #Neil #deGrasse #Tyson #Exchange #Barbs #Mars #Colonization Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Perfume boss caught on video saying he ignored Russia sanctions Perfume boss caught on video saying he ignored Russia sanctions Facebook David Crisp sold his high-end perfume in Russia A British businessman caught on camera confessing he was illegally selling luxury perfume to Russia is not facing ********* charges, the BBC has learned. David Crisp admitted to an undercover investigator that he had “ignored government edicts” on sanctions by selling £1,000-a-bottle “Boadicea the Victorious” perfume in Russia. The BBC can now exclusively show the undercover video, which has previously only been shared in court. Mr Crisp was arrested in 2023 by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – the *** government agency responsible for sanctions enforcement – but the investigation was dropped earlier this year. This is despite the discovery of evidence that he tried to conceal more than £1.7m of ******** sales. Mr Crisp, from Surrey, denies knowingly breaching sanctions or concealing trades with Russia. There has not been a single *** ********* conviction for violating trade sanctions on Russia, the BBC understands, since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago. Failing to punish violators is “a bad signal to send” and makes the *** look like a “soft touch,” says senior ************* MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been calling for tougher action against Russia. Undercover filming: David Crisp tells a private investigator how he sells perfume to Russia Mr Crisp travelled the world selling high-end perfume, regularly rubbing shoulders with celebrities and VIPs, who were unaware of his activities in Russia. But when he started chatting to a friendly ********* in the lift of a luxury hotel in Dallas in July last year, he had no idea he was actually speaking to a private investigator. Posing as a Las Vegas businessman, the agent said he was interested in stocking Mr Crisp’s perfumes. They later met in Crisp’s hotel room to smell the fragrances – where the investigator secretly filmed the conversation. “How’s your Russian market?” the investigator asked. “Don’t tell anyone.” Mr Crisp replied, “We’re doing really well… we ignore government edicts.” After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the *** government introduced sanctions banning trade with Russia in several areas – perfumes are specifically named. Breaching these regulations is a serious offence, with a maximum prison sentence of up to 10 years. Following the introduction of sanctions, Mr Crisp had agreed with his then-business partner, David Garofalo, to cease trading with Russia. But Mr Garofalo later became suspicious after a whistleblower claimed that Crisp continued to sell perfume in Moscow. Mr Garofalo then hired the private investigators. The undercover footage is “sickening” David Garofalo told me as we watch the footage together, adding “he knows that he’s violating the sanctions”. David Garofalo halted all sales to Russia once he took full control of the company Without Mr Crisp’s knowledge, the company also compiled a dossier of evidence that he had knowingly violated sanctions. Staff also found pallets of goods in the company’s *** facility with paperwork showing recipients in Russia, and international shipping data confirming deliveries. Products were discovered on ***** in Moscow that the company had only launched after the imposition of sanctions. “He had actually gone out of his way to disguise the fact that he’d continued selling to Russia,” Mr Garofalo told us. “He had deceived our in-house lawyer and misled our auditors.” Mr Garofalo reported Mr Crisp to HMRC and it opened a ********* investigation. At the same time, Mr Garofalo pursued a civil case against his partner to remove him from the company. In July this year, a High Court judge granted a rare provisional injunction, meaning Mr Crisp would be removed immediately pending the full civil trial. In his ruling, the judge said the undercover video was “compelling evidence” that Mr Crisp knew he was breaching sanctions and the company accounts showed he “concealed the Russian trading”. After taking full control of the company, Mr Garofalo immediately halted all sales to Russia. In a statement, David Crisp told the BBC: “I strongly refute the allegations made against me by Mr Garofalo, at no point did I knowingly trade in breach of Russian sanctions… at no point did I attempt to conceal those trades… the companies’ trades with Russia were well known to those within the business… I look forward to being fully exonerated.” Facebook The perfume sold in Russia cost £1,000 a bottle HMRC officers arrested Mr Crisp upon arrival at Gatwick Airport in October 2023 and seized his passport. But, by July this year, HMRC had dropped its investigation and told Mr Crisp that it would take no further action against him, returning his passport. Mr Garofalo told us he was shocked HMRC had showed no interest in the evidence he had collected. “It was an open and shut case. The evidence was just irrefutable.” HMRC does not comment on individual cases, but it told the BBC that ******** to comply with sanctions is a serious offence, and those who breach them could face enforcement actions including financial penalties or referral for ********* prosecution. Its statement added: “HMRC has fined five companies for breaches of the Russia sanctions regulations in the last two years, including a £1m fine issued in August 2023.” But the BBC understands there haven’t been any ********* prosecutions for violating trade sanctions on Russia since February 2022. Tim Ash says the “allure of doing business with Russia… is too much for some people” Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, the chair of a committee of MPs working on sanctions against Russia, told the BBC the Crisp case isn’t a “one-off”. “In terms of prosecution and seriously pursuing people over sanctions, the *** is very poor indeed,” said Sir Iain. “If we don’t prosecute, who the ***** is deterred from breaching sanctions? He said other countries including the US, were “light years” ahead of the *** in terms of prosecuting violators. “There needs to be arrest, prosecution and incarceration. And if we don’t do that, then there’s no such thing as sanctions.” The former ************* Party leader said that HMRC often reached settlements, instead of issuing large fines or ********* convictions. “The authorities may say the sanctions breaches are too small to prosecute, but the answer is you prosecute the small ones, because the big ones need to know that you’re coming after them as well,” he added. The *** government had hoped sanctions would be a deterrent, without the need for robust enforcement, according to Tim Ash from the foreign affairs think tank Chatham House. “The reality is, the allure of doing business with Russia, the huge profits to be made, are too much for some people,” explained Mr Ash. “They’re more interested in their bottom line, as opposed to the bottomless pit of Ukrainians dying.” He said cases like Mr Crisp’s sent a clear message that there would be no consequences for continuing business with Russia. “We are almost three years into the [full-scale] invasion, and the fact that we haven’t got our sanctions regime together is pretty extraordinary.” Source link #Perfume #boss #caught #video #Russia #sanctions Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Thitikul, Yin share lead chasing LPGA prize bonanza Thitikul, Yin share lead chasing LPGA prize bonanza Jeeno Thitikul has finished eagle-birdie as she posted a nine-under 63 to share the lead as she eyes more shopping money from richest prize in women’s golf. The 21-year-old from Thailand is locked with ********* Angel Yin (67) at 15-under 201, three shots clear of China’s Ruoning Yin (66) after the third round of the LPGA Tour’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida on Saturday. England’s Charley Hull had seven birdies in her 66 and was at 11-under 205, along with Narin An of South Korea (69). World No.1 Nelly Korda, who got back into the mix on Friday after a sluggish start, lost ground with a 69 that left her six shots back going into the final round. Three times a winner this season, Hannah Green (69) was the leading ***********, tied 16th but eight shots from the lead, with Grace Kim (70), tied 29th at four under, Minjee Lee (69) tied 33rd at three under and Gabriela Ruffels (71) tied 38th at two under. Korda has won four of her seven LPGA titles this year coming from behind. This could be a tall order. At stake is the richest payoff in women’s golf, $US4 million ($A6.15 million) to the winner, nearly as much as Korda has made all year in her seven-victory season. Thitikul already picked up a $US1 million bonus this week through the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge, a competition based on how players score on a designated ***** each week. “Actually, $1 million is really good enough for me,” Thitikul said. “If I can get more, it’s definitely going to be a nice, because as my team know I spend a lot of money. That’s why I have to keep playing good golf, like spending on shopping day.” Yin had another day of big putts and one chip-in from some 60 feet for eagle on the par-5 sixth ***** that put her comfortably ahead at Tiburon Golf Club. She holed a 30-footer on the eighth *****, another birdie from about 25 feet on the ninth ***** and another one from the 30-foot range on the 12th. Thitikul seemed to be an afterthought until she lit it up on the back nine for a 30. “I’m scoring still,” Yin said. “Making some mistakes, but saving a bunch, so a lot of positives.” Source link #Thitikul #Yin #share #lead #chasing #LPGA #prize #bonanza Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

An investor says he put 98% of his retirement funds in Trump Media stock and won’t bail because Trump has a ‘secret’ plan An investor says he put 98% of his retirement funds in Trump Media stock and won’t bail because Trump has a ‘secret’ plan Trump-supporting retirees have gone all-in on investing in Trump Media, even as the stock has proven to be volatile. One user, who only goes by @DTLjohnny, said on Trump Media-owned Truth Social he sunk 98% of his total retirement into the stock. As of September, he estimated he had lost 60% of his investment. Nevertheless, he seemed confident in the company’s ability to right its sails. “But I knew this day would come when the Deep State crooks would become so desperate that they would shove all-in with their counterfeit shares. Everybody can see what they’re doing. And I believe this is part of the plan of full exposure,” the user wrote in September. “And there ain’t no way Trump’s letting them bankrupt his company! Have ******. He and [Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes] have a plan. But it’s a plan that they have to keep secret…for now.” He likely recouped a big chunk of his losses. Shares soared more than 300% from a late-September low to late-October high but have since retreated about 40%. Another investor expressed concern about the stock. John Viaud, a South Carolina retiree, said his “entire pension is in jeopardy” after losing $600,000 on investments in Trump Media. “If we don’t see a green day tomorrow I may need to bail,” he said in a Truth Social post in September. In a separate post, Truth Social chastised the Washington Post’s previous coverage of investors who lost money on Trump Media stock, saying the outlet came to “preconceived conclusions” and omitted Trump Media’s full critique of the story’s content. Viaud, responding to Truth Social’s criticism of the Post story, said he continued to invest in Trump Media and he was able to mostly recover his loss “due to the success of the companies [sic] stock performance.” Fortune was unable to independently verify the Truth Social users’ investment portfolios. The users did not respond to Fortune’s interview requests, and Trump Media did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment. Persistent backing of Trump’s media and technology company has become a way for Trump’s followers to show their fervent support for the president-elect. But these retirees who were do-or-**** on Trump Media prior to the election are in for a tough wake-up call if they’re still pouring funds into the stock after Trump’s Nov. 5 triumph. Despite a 6% boost for the stock the day after the election, share prices have since fallen 13%, erasing the earlier gain. The stock followed the pattern of a larger “Trump bump” of stock explosions shortly after the election—which helped the S&P 500 gain 3.5% in the second week of November, its best post-election session ever—but has since mellowed. Story Continues Trump Media has always been volatile. It’s lost more than 53% of its value since March 26, which marked its first day trading as a public company after its special purpose acquisition company merger. To further spook investors, executives like CFO Phillip Juhan and company director Eric Swider have sold a combined 536,000 shares of the company since the election. Trump himself has said he won’t sell his stock, remaining its largest shareholder with 54% ownership, worth about $3.2 billion. Trump Media’s rocky path since the election indicates Trump’s victory hasn’t solved the stock’s volatility or Truth Social’s financials. According to recent filings, Trump Media is hemorrhaging money, largely because Truth Social’s ************* usership ******** narrow and because its main source of revenue is advertising dollars, which totaled just $2.6 million in the first nine months of the year and were down 23% from a year ago. The company lost $363 million in the same *******. Trump Media is now considering creating a cryptocurrency payment platform called TruthFi, which would act as another revenue source. Trump’s Truth Social was originally started in early 2022 as a way for Trump to platform his ideas after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 ******* on the U.S. Capitol. But Elon Musk’s X—which has 70.4 monthly active users to Truth Social’s 698,000 as of September, according to Similarweb—has become a hotbed for spreading ************* ideology since Musk bought the app in October 2022. Trump returned to the platform in August 2023. With an alliance between the two sites speculated to be in the works, Truth Social’s value proposition as an amplifier for Trump and his followers has weakened. “Trump Media’s whole argument was: We’re going to allow freedom of expression in a way that hasn’t existed in years,” Mike Stegemoller, a Baylor University finance professor, told the Washington Post. Trump’s return to the presidency—and an international platform carefully watched by global leaders, followers, and opponents, alike—further diminishes the appeal of an app built specifically to provide a voice for him. “That doesn’t bode well for a company that already makes very little revenue,” Stegemoller said. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Source link #investor #put #retirement #funds #Trump #Media #stock #wont #bail #Trump #secret #plan Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

AFLW: Ella Roberts claims West Coast Eagles club champion medal by a single vote AFLW: Ella Roberts claims West Coast Eagles club champion medal by a single vote Ella Roberts has claimed her maiden club champion honour after her outstanding season saw her pip teammate Charlie Thomas by a single vote. Coming into the count the award was effectively a two-horse race between Roberts and vice-captain Thomas after both were selected in the 22under22 squad and the extended All-*********** squad. However, it was the 19-year-old who came up trumps polling 115 votes ahead of Thomas’ 114 with Bella Lewis (106) rounding out the top three. Roberts, playing her third season, had a career-best season across the board averaging career highs in disposals (21.4), contested possessions (12.2) and clearances (3.5). She also added an offensive edge to her game kicking six goals to become one of the most exciting players in the competition. Given the Eagles’ struggles at times this season Roberts played across all three lines and was central to West Coast’s bright start win earlier in the year. Camera IconElla Roberts is West Coast club champion. Credit: Daniel Wilkins/The West *********** In the other awards Courtney Rowley was named Best Club Person, after working her way back into the team in week eight having suffered an ACL injury in the final game of 2023. The Eagles’ No. 2 draft pick Jess Rentsch received the Emerging Player award, while Schilling was presented the Trademark Player award, voted by the playing group. Source link #AFLW #Ella #Roberts #claims #West #Coast #Eagles #club #champion #medal #single #vote Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Jordanian police cordon off area near ******** embassy after gunshots heard, witnesses say Jordanian police cordon off area near ******** embassy after gunshots heard, witnesses say AMMAN (Reuters) -Jordanian police cordoned off an area in the vicinity of the ******** embassy in the capital Amman after gunshots were heard, witnesses said on Sunday. Two witnesses said police and ambulances rushed to the Rabiah neighborhood, where the embassy is located, after sporadic gunfire was heard. Police called on residents to stay in their homes as security personnel conducted a search for the culprits, a security source said. Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. The area near the heavily policed embassy is a flashpoint for frequent demonstrations against *******. The kingdom has witnessed some of the biggest peaceful rallies across the region as anti-******* sentiment runs high over the war in Gaza. Many of Jordan’s 12 million citizens are of ************ origin, they or their parents having been expelled or fled to Jordan in the fighting that accompanied the creation of ******* in 1948. Many have family ties on the other side of the Jordan River. Jordan’s peace treaty with ******* is widely unpopular among many citizens who see normalisation of relations as betraying the rights of their ************ compatriots. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Jaidaa Taha; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Source link #Jordanian #police #cordon #area #******** #embassy #gunshots #heard #witnesses Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Scotland v Australia: ‘Time for Townsend’s side to deliver result, not moments’ Scotland v Australia: ‘Time for Townsend’s side to deliver result, not moments’ Autumn games don’t normally have the import of championship rugby, but this one feels a little different, for both nations. For Gregor Townsend it’s a chance to finish off the year with a big scalp, a victory that would propel them into next year, where they have faltering Italy and refreshening Ireland at home in the first two weekends of the Six Nations. Lose, though, and it’s navel gazing time again. Townsend wasn’t hiding from that on Friday. “It must be one of the most experienced teams we’ve selected in the last eight to 10 years,” he said. “That should count for something.” That’s as close to ‘no excuses’ as you’re going to get with Townsend, which is bold given the way of things between these two countries over the last decade or so. Scotland have won three of the last five, it’s true, but eight of the last nine have been settled by six points or fewer, including four that have been won by a single point. Scotland are a settled team with 640 caps in their starting line-up. The Wallabies have 406. Scotland have familiarity in all combinations on the pitch. Australia, meanwhile, have a midfield partnership that has started one game together, a pair of locks who have never played together for their country, and a debutant on the wing. There has been an understandable love ******** of the Wallabies on this tour, particularly around Joseph Suaalii, the fantastically-talented centre plucked from rugby league, and Tom Wright, currently one of the most dangerous attacking full-backs in the global game. They’re still in the early stages of Schmidt’s coaching, though. They score a lot, but they also concede a lot. Their virtues are blindingly obvious, but it’s weakness that Townsend is looking for. Suaalii is an attacking wonder, but no **** with only 100 minutes of Test rugby is the finished article. Playing 13 demands tremendous nous in defence and Suaalii can’t have it after a game and a bit. Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones will surely want to test the young man’s grasp of defence in the rarefied air of international rugby. Scotland’s team was largely predictable, with Jamie Ritchie getting the nod in the one contentious area in the back row. The former captain is at a major point in his Test life. Still only 28, Ritchie has been in and out for the big games of 2024. He started at seven against Wales in the Six Nations; wasn’t in the 23 for France; started at six against England; was on the bench against Italy; wasn’t in the squad against Ireland; was on the bench against the Boks this month and now starts at six again. This needs to be a big day for Ritchie, in the air and on the floor, where he excels. It needs to be a big day for all the Scotland players. They are a collection of excellent individuals who are forever toiling to find the consistency of potential champions. Jones called it. Time to step up and deliver. Source link #Scotland #Australia #Time #Townsends #side #deliver #result #moments Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Man charged with making ***** salute at trans rights rally Man charged with making ***** salute at trans rights rally A man has been charged as *********** states crackdown on ***** salutes and symbols. A 20-year-old man stepped out in front of a transgender pride march in Sydney on Saturday, allgedly flashing a fascist salute at the crowd before being arrested. Police will allege the man also made threatening remarks. He received bail and will be in court in January, facing charges of knowingly displaying a ***** symbol without excuse and making a gesture in a public place that is a ***** salute. He momentarily interrupted a march marking “Trans Day of Resistance”, as demonstrators walked through Sydney’s Camperdown. Camera IconImages from the Trans Day of Resistance protest. Instagram Credit: Supplied The marchers were voicing demands for an end to police stripsearching ****** and trans people. The ralliers also want trans and ****** people to not be held in immigration detention or deported to nations “where they will be in mortal danger”. Protesters were also calling for students and workers to not be fired or expelled because of their own orientation or identity, and better housing and workplace protections for people who in the past had worked as **** workers. NSW has a permit system for public demonstrations, and police were prepared for counter-protesters at the event. Footage shows police walking alongside a small group of protesters, and police cars following the procession. Camera IconThe 20-year-old will face the Newton Local Court on January 14. Google Credit: Supplied The 20-year-old who was charged after the incident is scheduled to appear in the Newtown Local Court on January 14. This is just the latest in a string of *****-related incidents in Australia in recent times. Last month Daniel Muston, 41, Ryan Peter Marshall, 31, and Anthony Raymond Mitchell, 32, were convicted for the “heil *******” salutes they performed outside Sydney ******* Museum. Laws criminalising ***** symbols passed the NSW parliament in 2022. Three men, who did not know each other but all happened to be of Croatian heritage, were convicted of performing a ***** salute at a soccer match in Sydney in 2022. This week, the guilty verdicts for two of the men were overturned. Camera IconProud fascist Jacob Hersant was the first person in Victoria convicted of performing a banned ***** salute, as relatively new laws in Victoria and NSW continue to bring people before the courts for making white supremacist salutes and displaying ***** symbols. NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui Credit: News Corp Australia All three men had argued their symbols were not linked to fascism but instead were Croatian gestures. Victoria passed similar *****-banning legislation in 2023. Proud neo-***** Jacob Hersant, 25, performed a version of a ***** salute in front of news cameras on the steps of the County Court in the days after the new laws took effect. In October a magistrate heard Hersant’s lawyer argue the ***** salute was a legitimate form of political expression; Magistrate Brett Sonnet found Hersant guilty. Hersant was granted appeal bail. He made the white supremacy salute after just escaping jail time on a violent disorder charge after a group of 25 men, mostly masked, attacked a group of hikers in a state park outside Melbourne. In another separate incident, well-known Sydney restaurant owner Alan Yazbek was found guilty of displaying a ***** symbol at a pro-************ rally and is due to be sentenced in December. The 56-year-old brandished a sign at the rally which mimicked the ******** flag, but replaced the Star of David with a ********* and read “stop ***** *******”. Source link #Man #charged #making #***** #salute #trans #rights #rally Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Body of missing Manitowoc veteran Jason R. Neumann recovered in Lake Michigan Body of missing Manitowoc veteran Jason R. Neumann recovered in Lake Michigan MANITOWOC – The body of Jason R. Neumann, a 43-year-old veteran from Manitowoc, was recovered from Lake Michigan approximately 2 miles north of the village of Cleveland Saturday. Police confirmed the discovery of Neumann’s body Nov. 23. In a news release Nov. 20, police said Neumann’s vehicle, a 2019 Toyota 4Runner SUV, had been located by Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office Nov. 19 along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in shallow water near the village of Cleveland. Police believe Neumann went missing Nov. 18. “Our deepest sympathies go out to Jason’s family and friends during this difficult time,” Manitowoc Police Department Lt. Adam Sohlden said in the news release. “At this point in the investigation, there is no indication of foul play.” The release said the investigation is being completed by the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office and Manitowoc County coroner. No other details were released Nov. 23. More news: When are no-school days in Manitowoc County? A list for Manitowoc, Two Rivers & Kiel. Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or *****@*****.tld, or follow him on X at @breidHTRNews. This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Body of Jason Neumann, missing Manitowoc vet, found in Lake Michigan Source link #Body #missing #Manitowoc #veteran #Jason #Neumann #recovered #Lake #Michigan Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 For PS5 Gets Biggest Discount Ever For ****** Friday Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 For PS5 Gets Biggest Discount Ever For ****** Friday If the PS5 Slim ****** Friday deal has caused you to join the PlayStation ecosystem, you’ll also want to check out Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is on ***** for only $20 at Best Buy (Amazon is sold out). Miles Morales bridges the gap between the two numbered entries in the series. It’s a smaller-scale experience that feels more like a meaty expansion than a brand-new game. New players will want to opt for the Ultimate Edition, a value pack that includes Miles Morales and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, a great enhanced version of the 2018 PS4 exclusive. Though PlayStation sells the remaster separately on PSN, it honestly doesn’t make sense to buy it this way, not when there’s a deal that drops the Ultimate Edition to $40. Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered actually costs $10 more than this two-game bundle. Whether you buy Miles Morales on its own or in the Ultimate Edition, these prices match their all-time lows. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a superb sequel and can be played without knowledge of its predecessors, but you’ll miss out on some references to the other games, and the story likely won’t feel as impactful. Plus, both of Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man games are awesome, too. Source link #Marvels #SpiderMan #PS5 #Biggest #Discount #****** #Friday Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]