*********** shares edge lower after Wall Street rally
*********** shares edge lower after Wall Street rally
*********** shares are trading slightly lower despite an improving global outlook and US stocks rising to three-month highs.
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Valparaiso University officials confirm art *****, ask city to serve as pass-through for $117M bond issue
Valparaiso University officials confirm art *****, ask city to serve as pass-through for $117M bond issue
Valparaiso University officials came before the Valparaiso City Council Monday to explain their bid for the city to serve as a conduit for up to $117 million in general obligation bonds for some campus renovations and to refinance university debt.
What they got was a host of questions from the council on why the university sold cornerstone artwork from the Brauer Museum to fund freshman dorm renovations if they were undertaking a bond issue, whether the city would face any financial obligation, and how to explain the request to their constituents.
“We have a lot of publicity regarding some art sales,” said Mark Volpatti, the university’s senior vice president for finance and chief financial officer.
The university has sold or is concluding the ***** of the three paintings, including one by Georgia O’Keeffe, and is moving forward with its freshman village, he said, adding the renovation work was being done without taking on debt and through “the proceeds from the artwork.”
University spokesperson Michael Fenton confirmed in an email to the Post-Tribune Tuesday that O’Keeffe’s “Rust Red Hills” and “The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate” by Childe Hassam have been sold.
Because the ***** was conducted through a private broker, he did not have information on the identity of the buyers. The ***** of Frederic E. Church’s “Mountain Landscape” is still in process, Fenton said, “and there is no further information at this time.”
Work on the freshman village, as Volpatti called it, includes air conditioning, furniture and other upgrades. The dorms, Brandt and Wehrenberg halls, are slated to have a gallery displaying lesser-known works of art from the Sloan Trust, which directly or indirectly provided the three paintings being sold off. The work is slated to begin this summer and conclude by fall 2026.
“People will say the No. 1 reason people don’t come to Valparaiso University is because of the housing,” Volpatti said. “All the other stuff is really good for us.”
As far as the bonds, Patrick Lyp, the city attorney, said the city can act as a conduit for the bond purchase and has done so for other non-profits, including a senior housing facility a few years ago.
“This is not necessarily debt issued by the city, where we’re responsible,” he said.
David Nie, an attorney with Ice Miller and the university’s bond counsel, reiterated that the bonds do not obligate the city financially. Under the Internal Revenue Service’s tax code, non-profits have to go through a government entity to secure general obligation bonds.
In this case, he said, the Valparaiso Economic Development Corp. can serve that role, which also is allowed under state statute.
“Their consideration is whether the project would be of benefit to the general ******** of the city and we think we meet that threshold,” Nie said.
The maximum for the bond issue is $117 million but Volpatti expects the amount to be closer to $55 million, with about $15 million for infrastructure upgrades on campus, including new roofs, information technology work, and other needs. The rest of the funds will be used to refinance existing debt.
The university’s goal, Volpatti said, is to have the bonds on hand by the end of June, which also is the end of the university’s fiscal year.
City council members had an assortment of questions about the ***** of the artwork, the university’s junk bond status by Moody’s, and whether the university had a backup plan if the council voted against pitching in with the bond issue.
Councilwoman Barb Domer, D-3rd, asked Volpatti to confirm that the freshman dorm renovations weren’t included in the $117 million bond issue and that the entire cost of those renovations would come from selling the paintings, which he did.
The university expects the paintings to bring in around $12 million, which is what’s being invested in the dorm renovations, Volpatti said, adding the $117 million figure for the bond issue “is if we go all in and we don’t think that will happen.”
“What’s the Plan B? What happens if this body says no?” asked Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th.
The university would have to figure out the funding, Volpatti said, and determine whether that’s done through philanthropy or selling core assets.
Nie, under questioning from Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, reiterated that the city would serve as a pass-through for the bonds.
“In no way does this ever reflect on the issuer that issued the bonds. In no way does this come back to the city,” Nie said, adding the bonds would not impact taxpayers.
Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd, like other city officials, said he supports the university but had questions about the university’s recent bond rating analysis from Moody’s.
“I just feel very responsible to understand as best as possible the recent change in the bond rating” and whether that’s from the university’s debt or its enrollment struggles, Cotton said.
Moody’s Investor Services, Inc. recently downgraded Valparaiso University two notches to a junk rating, which could raise the university’s borrowing costs.
In an April 30 report, Moody’s noted that “the highly competitive student market poses ongoing difficulties for enrollment management. Inability to boost net tuition revenue will further limit financial reserves and the university’s capacity to address operating deficits in the short term.”
The negative outlook, Moody’s said, “reflects the potential for continued enrollment challenges resulting in pressure to balance operations.”
The university is working to “right-size,” Nie said, and determine where it sees growth. At one time the university hoped to have more than 6,500 students but “that’s not happening,” he said. The university had 2,598 students at the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, according to its website.
The goal, Nie said, is for the university to break even for two years and generate revenue four years out. Still, Cotton wanted to know if the university would be “pressing against a debt limit” with the general obligation bonds.
Nie confirmed that the university has enough funding to support the bond payments, and added that the university will only be taking on an additional $15 million in debt for the infrastructure work since $32 million to $37 million will be used to restructure debt. This is the first time the university has asked the city to be a conduit for a bond issue.
“If this was an option, can I ask why it wasn’t used instead of selling the artwork?” asked Councilwoman Emilie Hunt, D-At-large.
The artwork was sold, Nie said, because university officials “felt like we had a very great asset but it wasn’t doing the most from an operational capability for the campus to run. It was just a decision the university made.”
Per the court order that allowed for modifying the trust that provided the funding for the paintings, Nie said, the funds have to be used for the dorm renovations. Any money left over also has to go toward university housing.
Domer said she was still trying to figure out the sequence of events and how she was going to explain that there was more than a year of legal controversy over selling the art because those funds were necessary for dorm renovations.
“That’s all happened and now there’s a request for a $117 million bond issue and when I think about the sequence of events, wouldn’t all of this have been known a year ago or even six months ago, on the heels of a court order saying it’s OK to sell those paintings to renovate the freshmen dorms?” she said.
The university chose to sell the paintings for the dorm renovations, Volpatti said, because “we thought that was the best return on the investment.” Selling the art, he added, was the best thing for the university and, in turn, the city because the renovated dorms would bring people here.
“From our position, this is a bit of a confusing thing, right?” Anderson said. “The city is doing something for the university, it’s this very innocent pass-through thing but it’s very difficult to explain that to the public.
“I would think you would do yourselves a service by letting us know exactly what the projects are going to be because that allows us to present that to our constituents.”
Nie said the university could share a memo about the details with Lyp. Additionally, Lyp said the university will have to present an economic benefit statement to the VEDC, including job retention, which is at least as important, if not more so, than new hires.
The university has about 600 employees, Volpatti said, with about 200 or 225 faculty members and the rest staff employees.
“For me, it’s really important that we have Valparaiso University. It’s a huge asset to our community,” Kapitan said.” I’m glad we’re able to have this conversation to show our support but at the same time, I’m understanding what our role is in this, and we’re successful when you’re successful.”
Mayor Jon Costas said he appreciated the conversation and understood that the city would look and feel a lot different without the university.
“Smaller, private institutions are challenged and you’ve got to make some difficult decisions to make sure you’re succeeding,” he said, adding the city would not be taking on any risk by serving as the conduit for the bond issue.
The council voted to carry the matter to its next meeting, scheduled for June 9, though it could schedule a special meeting before that to consider the proposal. In the meantime, the city’s plan commission will have to give the proposal a cursory glance, which officials expect to be routine since it doesn’t include anything involving city infrastructure.
The Valparaiso Economic Development Corp. will hold a public hearing about the bond issue at 2 p.m. May 28 in council chambers at city hall, the only public hearing on the proposal before it goes back to the city council for a final vote.
*****@*****.tld
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Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge in immigration case, allowing charges to continue – AP News
Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge in immigration case, allowing charges to continue – AP News
Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge in immigration case, allowing charges to continue AP NewsFederal grand jury indicts Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan in ICE case Milwaukee Journal SentinelWisconsin Judge Indicted on Charges That She Helped Immigrant Evade Agents The New York TimesWisconsin judge arrested in immigration case indicted by federal grand jury – live The GuardianGrand jury indicts Milwaukee County judge after prosecutors allege she helped a man evade ICE WPR
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Biden aide hits back at new book alleging cover-up of his ‘deterioration’
Biden aide hits back at new book alleging cover-up of his ‘deterioration’
Brandon Drenon
BBC News, Washington DC
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Former US President Joe Biden’s aides have hit back at a new book that accuses his White House inner circle of covering up his “physical deterioration” during his ill-fated re-election campaign.
According to the book, Original Sin, Biden’s condition during his 2024 presidential run was said to be so poor that aides discussed putting him in a wheelchair.
A spokesperson for Biden, 82, said “evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity” and maintained the Democrat had been “a very effective president”.
The book, by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios, is due to be released on 20 May.
Biden abruptly ended his re-election campaign last July shortly after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, a Republican.
Party insiders blamed him for exiting the race too late, leaving his replacement, Vice-President Kamala Harris, 107 days to challenge Trump, who swept to victory.
Ahead of the book’s release, Biden last week gave his first interview since leaving the White House to the BBC, saying: “I don’t think it would have mattered” if he had left the race sooner.
Biden: Withdrawing from 2024 race earlier “wouldn’t have mattered”
While the book largely cites anonymous sources in interviews with more than 200 people, one of the few to be quoted on the record is David Plouffe, who worked on Vice-President Harris’s campaign.
“We got so screwed by Biden as a party,” the book quotes Plouffe as saying.
The authors write: “Biden’s physical deterioration – most apparent in his halting walk – had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election.
“Given Biden’s age, [his physician Kevin O’Connor] also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the book adds.
Biden’s physical condition had declined so much, the authors said, that aides had sought to ensure he walked shorter distances, used handrails when mounting stairs, and wore trainers more often.
Watch: Harris speaks about the courage of American people
At the time, Biden aides repeatedly told reporters his altered gait was due to a foot fracture in November 2020 and his subsequent refusal to consistently wear his prescribed surgical boot.
In a statement to Axios, an anonymous Biden aide said: “Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.”
The spokesperson added: “We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline.
“In fact, the evidence points to the opposite – he was a very effective president.”
Tapper and Thompson’s book also says that Biden did not recognise George Clooney at a star-studded California campaign fundraiser last June hosted by the Hollywood star.
“Thank you for being here,” Biden told Clooney at the event, apparently unaware he was speaking to the Academy Award winner.
“You know George,” an aide reportedly told Biden, as he was struggled to work out Clooney’s identity.
Not long after the incident, Clooney wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times calling on Biden to quit the race. The actor was one of the first major donors to publicly withdraw his support.
The book also alleges that Biden forgot the names of veteran aides, including trusted loyalist Mike Donilon, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.
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Players ‘disappointed’ in AFL, call for safety rethink
Players ‘disappointed’ in AFL, call for safety rethink
The AFL is under fire over its health and safety processes following the mishandling of a concussion.
AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh has slammed the league after it was revealed umpires saw Collingwood’s Lachie Schultz on the ground in pain against Fremantle, but didn’t stop play.
AFL football boss Laura Kane has taken responsibility for the situation after becoming aware umpires had noticed Schultz was injured.
The umpires involved had initially told the AFL they couldn’t remember seeing the Magpies forward in trouble following a collision with Dockers defender Jordan Clark.
“It is now clear that the umpires noticed Lachie Schultz’s injury and had the opportunity to stop the play to ensure he left the field safely,” said Marsh, after on-field audio was leaked of the umpires discussing Schultz at the time.
“What this highlights to us is that the process of dealing with vital health and safety issues on the field is unclear, and there are many recent examples of the industry needing to better prepare everyone for when these situations occur.
“Equally, we are disappointed that the AFL failed to appropriately review a serious on-field incident, but acknowledge that they have taken responsibility for this.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with the industry to continually strengthen health and safety protocols for our members.”
It is the latest in a series of bungled incidents over on-field injuries in the past 12 months.
Melbourne star Christian Petracca was allowed back on to the field despite clearly being distressed in the 2024 King’s Birthday match against Collingwood.
It was later found Petracca had suffered life-threatening injuries following an accidental knee to his back from Magpies captain Darcy Moore.
Geelong ace Jeremy Cameron refused to come off the ground against Port Adelaide when approached by doctors following a head knock. He was later diagnosed with concussion.
More recently, play wasn’t stopped when Essendon tall Harry Jones was lying on the ground in pain with a dislocated ankle against North Melbourne.
Kane admitted the first AFL statement released about the Schultz incident was “incorrect, but we were given the wrong information from the umpires”.
The umpire fraternity is privately seething about the fallout from the situation.
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3 Monster Stocks — Including Berkshire Hathaway and Constellation Brands — to Hold for the Next 10 Years and Beyond
3 Monster Stocks — Including Berkshire Hathaway and Constellation Brands — to Hold for the Next 10 Years and Beyond
Who doesn’t love a monster stock? Definitions can vary, and in my mind, a monster stock is one that has one or more amazing qualities that can lead it to be a terrific grower over time for its shareholders. If your portfolio has one or more monster stocks in it, it might grow like gangbusters over time (though such growth might even be achieved with simple, low-fee index funds).
Here are three such companies to consider for berths in your portfolio. See if any or all of them pique your interest, and if any do, dig deeper into them. Each could help your net worth grow over the coming decade and beyond.
Image source: Getty Images.
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) has been in the news a lot recently. At its recent annual meeting in early May, CEO Warren Buffett, aged 94, announced he’d be stepping down at the end of the year, after 60 years of growing his company. And grow it he did — over those 60 years, the S&P 500 index of America’s 500 biggest companies gained about 39,000% (10.4% annually, on average), while Berkshire Hathaway grew in value by 5,500,000% (nearly 20% annually).
The company is huge now — recently ranked No. 5 on the Fortune 500 — so it’s not likely to grow as briskly as it did in the past. But it’s still likely to grow. It’s sitting on nearly $350 billion in cash, too, which can be deployed to buy more businesses or stocks. Right now, if you invest in the company, you’ll become a part-owner of scores of businesses owned by Berkshire, such as GEICO, Benjamin Moore, See’s Candies, and the entire BNSF railroad. You’ll have a stake in Berkshire’s stock portfolio, too, with major positions in companies such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America.
The stock is not a screaming bargain at recent levels, but it’s not extremely overvalued, either. There’s a lot to like about Berkshire Hathaway, and its future is promising.
While Berkshire Hathaway shares don’t exactly look cheap, shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) do. The stock’s recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14, for example, is well below the five-year average of 19. Its dividend, meanwhile, recently yielded 2.2%. That’s not a huge dividend yield, but it’s a growing payout — which has been hiked by an annual average of 6% over the past five years.
Story Continues
In case you think you don’t know Constellation Brands, know that it’s an alcoholic beverage specialist, with brands such as Corona, Modelo, Robert Mondavi, High West, and Casa Noble selling primarily in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy.
The stock’s low price might have you wanting to rush in, but hold on. The company, like many others, may be hurt by proposed or enacted tariffs, as it brews its beers in Mexico. It’s certainly been a monster stock in the past, averaging annual gains of 18% over the past 15 years, but the near future features some headwinds. So give tariffs some thought and dig deeper into Constellation before buying.
Everyone knows the “Magnificent Seven” component Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL). It encompasses not only the mighty Google search engine, but also the YouTube video platform, the Chrome browser, the Nest suite of smart home products, the Android operating system, the Google Cloud Platform, and more. With all that, no wonder the company recently carried a market value of $1.8 trillion!
Alphabet is even a dividend-paying stock now, having initiated a payout in 2024 and recently increasing it by 5%. It’s also a monster stock, averaging annual gains of about 20% over the past decade. Will it keep growing at a respectable clip? That certainly seems likely. It already dominates the search world, and it’s a leader in artificial intelligence (AI), as well. With more than $100 billion in cash, it’s well poised to pounce on opportunities that come along. (A noteworthy new development is that Apple is considering replacing Google as its default search engine for its Safari browser.)
Some worry about Alphabet being broken up due to antitrust concerns, but that’s not necessarily bad for shareholders. They may well end up owning all the pieces, which may even end up being worth more separately. Meanwhile, the stock’s valuation is compelling, with its recent forward P/E of 17.5 well below the five-year average of 22.5.
Give these stocks a closer look and weigh their pros and cons. There’s a good chance that one or more could help you get wealthier over the coming 10 or more years.
Before you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Berkshire Hathaway wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $598,613!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $753,878!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 922% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 169% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Selena Maranjian has positions in Alphabet, American Express, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Bank of America, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends Constellation Brands. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
3 Monster Stocks — Including Berkshire Hathaway and Constellation Brands — to Hold for the Next 10 Years and Beyond was originally published by The Motley Fool
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Buttigieg's political future takes shape through town halls, fundraising texts and manosphere podcasts – Politico
Buttigieg's political future takes shape through town halls, fundraising texts and manosphere podcasts – Politico
Buttigieg’s political future takes shape through town halls, fundraising texts and manosphere podcasts PoliticoLive from Iowa…Pete Buttigieg! The.Ink | Anand GiridharadasButtigieg said ‘maybe’ Democrats would have done better without Biden PoliticoPete Buttigieg hammers Trump at Iowa town hall amid 2028 presidential speculation NBC NewsA Bearded Pete Buttigieg Drops Into Iowa for a Pitch to Veterans The New York Times
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Woodside Energy: Saudi Aramco in talks to back Louisiana LNG project
Woodside Energy: Saudi Aramco in talks to back Louisiana LNG project
Oil giant Saudi Aramco is in talks to buy a slice of Woodside Energy’s $27 billion Louisiana LNG development in the United States.
Woodside pressed go on the export project earlier this month and construction is expected to be finished in 2029.
It follows a shift in focus for the Perth-based company into the US market through 2024, amid ongoing red and green tape battles at home in Australia.
State-owned Aramco — among the biggest businesses in the world — will consider taking equity in the Louisiana project or signing a deal to offtake some of the gas.
The two companies will also take a look at “collaboration” in the lower carbon ammonia market. Woodside made a move into that industry last year through the acquisition of the Beaumont project in Texas.
Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said the deal aligned with the company’s plan to create a global portfolio that would be resilient.
“(The deal) leverages our growing relationship with one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies,to explore new opportunities which deliver value for both parties,” she said
“It is also another demonstration of the ongoing interest Louisiana LNG is generating among high-quality potential investors, following our recent agreement with Stonepeak to acquire a 40 per cent interest in the project’s infrastructure holding company.”
The deal was signed in Riyadh at a Saudi-US Investment Forum attended by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump.
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Remains found in Salt Lake confirmed to be University of Utah student who disappeared in 1973
Remains found in Salt Lake confirmed to be University of Utah student who disappeared in 1973
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The University of Utah Police announced that they have solved a missing person case that started more than 50 years ago.
Douglas Brick, a University of Utah student, left his dorm on October 12, 1973, and was never seen again. Douglas Brick’s family never stopped looking for him.
Last week, results from an out-of-state lab confirmed that skull fragments found in the foothills near the University of Utah matched one of Douglas Brick’s living relatives.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Missing in Utah: When missing persons go unnoticed
His older brother, David Brick, spoke with ABC4 in 2022. He said that Douglas Brick, a Pocatello, Idaho native, had traveled to Utah to get a degree. David Brick was in Europe when he got the news of his brother’s disappearance.
“There was a lot of things going on,” David Brick said in 2022. “He had some girlfriend, and he broke up with the girlfriend. We really don’t know why he just took off and disappeared.”
The university’s investigation
In 2022, a new face joined the University of Utah Police Department. A crime data analyst, Nikol Mitchell, discovered the cold case during her work in Utah’s Statewide Information and Analysis Center (SIAC). It appeared that the case had been lost for at least 20 years, according to the university.
She told Major Heather Sturzenegger, and she reopened a new case, making it a goal to find what had happened to Douglas Brick.
32 years later: Victim identified in Weber County cold case involving boat burning in field
“For me, I just wanted to try to bring closure to the family and solve the case so they can have some peace,” Sturzenegger is quoted in the release. “I have always had a really strong feeling that we would be able to solve this case.”
When Sturzenegger was promoted, Detective Jon Dial was assigned the case. The two worked together to put together what might have happened.
Claims floated around online about where Douglas Brick had gone. ABC4 previously found a forum post that said he was leaving to start a new life and didn’t want anyone to know. Police said they found leads that reported him fleeing the country or disappearing in the foothills behind the U.
During their search, Dial and Stuzenegger found that Douglas Brick’s sister had contacted the police in 2018 about his case. Dial flew to California to meet with her and take a DNA sample in hopes that it would bring up something in the national system.
Unfortunately, nothing came of the sample in 2022.
Logan detectives solve 59-year-old cold case ********* of 17-year-old girl
In a surprising coincidence, Sturzenegger was attending a doctor’s appointment with her daughter in December 2022. She was speaking with the doctor casually about what she did and happened to mention the case they were investigating.
“That’s strange, when I was a student at the U in 1973, my roommate went missing,” the doctor said. This doctor was Steve Warren, and he was the one who initially reported Douglas Brick missing back in 1973.
Warren had reported the disappearance, called his family, and discovered Douglas Brick’s abandoned car. This confirmed that police were searching the foothills in the right area, evidence that had been lost to time.
“I can still picture him in his glasses, going to class with his hard-cased briefcase,” Warren says. “I can still see all of his belongings in the back seat of his car — I never forgot one thing about it.”
No discoveries were made for roughly a year following that. Sturzenegger kept that case open, in hopes that something would come through.
DNA testing confirms identity of body found in 1980s to be missing teenager
In October 2024, hunters found two fragments of a human skull roughly six miles above the white U painted on the hill, near the summit of ****** Mountain. University police were permitted to send the bone to an out-of-state lab to see if it was Douglas Brick.
After five months, the University of Utah student who had been missing for more than 50 years was no longer missing. The lab confirmed that the DNA evidence matched 99.9%.
“My heart was pounding. I was shaking. I was thinking, am I reading this right? Is this him?” Sturzenegger is quoted in the release.
Dial and Sturzenegger flew to California and informed the family. The family released the following statement.
“We thank the hunter who found him 6 months ago and reported it immediately, Detective Jon Dial and Major Heather Sturzenegger, search and rescue volunteers, and all the individuals and agencies that were involved in this case. We are requesting privacy during this time of transition.”
Family of Douglas Brick
Tooele man charged with ******* in 50-year-old cold case
A chance psychic encounter
Donna Brick, Douglas’ mother, passed away in May 2010. She remembers seeing him for the last time in September 1973, when he left Idaho to continue his education at the U.
Following his disappearance, Donna Brick did her best to find answers about what happened. She was in contact with the Salt Lake City Police Department, according to David Brick, and went to his dorm room at the university after he went missing.
“The only thing that I found as strange was my mother claimed she went down to clean his room. She found an empty box of bullets,” David Brick recalled in a 2022 interview with ABC4.
According to a press release from the university, a memorial was held for Douglas Brick in 1990. That same year, Donna Brick wrote an entry in her journal that Detective Dial says he “will never forget.”
SLCPD arrest suspect in 2022 cold case *********
She wrote about an encounter with a store clerk who told her she was a psychic. The clerk intrigued Donna Brick, and she asked her if she could tell her what had happened to her son.
According to the release, Donna Brick wrote that the psychic told her that Douglas Brick had gone to the foothills above the University of Utah and was contemplating ending his life. She claimed that he was afraid because it was dark, and slipped and fell.
“Where the skull was located, the terrain I was traversing as part of the search, it is extremely steep and loose on both sides, and I was having a hard time in the daylight keeping my footing under me and figuring out where I was going,” Dial is quoted in the release.
Although the case is solved, the University of Utah Police are planning to go back to the area and check for any additional evidence now that the weather is warm.
“I felt a very personal connection to Douglas throughout this investigation,” Dial stated in the release. “In a way, it’s hard to explain. There was a push and a connection that I felt was from Douglas to this case specifically, in moving it along and being persistent. I have felt very strongly that I will always have Douglas in the back of my mind, and his family.”
Marcos Ortiz contributed to this report.
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Would you drive 30km/h to reduce road deaths?
Would you drive 30km/h to reduce road deaths?
Unsafe roads are forcing parents to drive children less than one kilometre to school, say safety advocates pushing for lower speed limits.
Restricting cars and trucks to 30km/h would be the norm for neighbourhood streets under proposed laws being unveiled on Wednesday.
The change comes amid rising fatalities on *********** roads in the face of a national goal to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by 2050.
While nine out of ten people die when hit by a vehicle driving at 50 km/h, nine in ten people survive when hit at 30 km/h, safety advocate Jennifer Kent says.
Inner-city Melbourne and parts of suburban Sydney have adopted the lower limits but Dr Kent views the varied approaches across Australia as unfair for children, parents and the elderly.
“Why should my son be safe walking to school but my cousin who lives in Brisbane is not?” the spokeswoman for advocacy group 30 Please told AAP.
“It’s not fair that some people’s lives are more important than others, so why wouldn’t we do this on a national scale.”
Kobi Shetty lives in an inner Sydney area where the speed limit is more than 30 kilometres an hour.
“I see a lot of neighbours who live near me drive their kids to school less than a kilometre,” she told AAP.
“They drive their kids to school because they don’t feel safe letting them walk or cycle.”
That perspective has helped push the NSW Greens MP to introduce a bill to enact a statewide 30km/h limit on residential roads.
She says it’s the “most impactful” way to protect motorists, cyclists and pedestrians from road accidents as drivers will be forced to travel slower in high traffic areas.
If adopted, NSW would follow Germany, Italy, Spain and the *** in lowering limits to such levels.
In those areas, communities have seen a 40-per-cent reduction in fatalities on roads that have these limits, Ms Shetty said.
The cost to motorists was meanwhile between 30 seconds to one minute for each journey, research suggested.
“Most people would understand that it’s worth spending an extra 30 seconds sitting in a car and saving a life,” Ms Shetty said.
Premier Chris Minns however doubled down on opposition to 30 km/h caps first aired in 2024.
“I think that’s too slow,” he told reporters on Wednesday
Ms Shetty’s bill will be debated at a later date.
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Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Delayed to “Early 2026”
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Delayed to “Early 2026”
IGN: “We already knew that Amy Hennig, the award-winning writer and director behind games such as Jak 3 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, was working on a narrative-driven Marvel game focused on Captain America and ****** Panther. And today, we finally learned some new details, including its official title: Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. It’ll arrive sometime in 2025. Kicking off State of Unreal 2024, Skydance Media unveiled the first trailer for the game, which you can check out below.”
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Exclusive-Houthi ceasefire followed US intel showing militants sought off-ramp
Exclusive-Houthi ceasefire followed US intel showing militants sought off-ramp
By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk and Erin Banco
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Days before a surprise U.S. ceasefire agreement with Houthis, U.S. intelligence started picking up indications the Yemeni fighters were looking for an exit after seven weeks of relentless U.S. bombings, four U.S. officials said.
Houthi leaders began reaching out sometime around the first weekend in May to U.S. allies in the Middle East, two of the officials said.
“We started getting intel that the Houthis had had enough,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity to recount the internal discussions about the intelligence, which haven’t been previously reported.
Interviews with current and former U.S. officials, diplomatic sources and other experts show how a campaign that the U.S. military’s Central Command once envisioned might stretch through most of this year came to abrupt halt on May 6 after 52 days, allowing President Donald Trump to declare victory before heading to the Middle East this week.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have disrupted commerce by launching hundreds of drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel in solidarity with Palestinians over the war in Gaza.
Two sources said Iran played an important role in encouraging the Iran-aligned Houthis to negotiate, as Tehran pursues its own talks with the United States over its nuclear program aimed at ending crippling U.S. sanctions and preventing a military strike by the U.S. or Israel.
But the culmination of the ceasefire accord underscored how quickly the Trump administration moved on initial intelligence to secure what in March seemed unthinkable to many experts in the short term: a Houthi declaration it would stop striking U.S. ships. Trump’s unconventional approach included bypassing close U.S. ally Israel, which is not covered by the agreement, and which was not told ahead of time, an Israeli official and a person familiar with the matter said.
The Houthis weren’t the only ones feeling pressure. The bombing campaign has also been costly to the United States, which has burned through munitions and lost two aircraft and multiple drones.
After the early May tips on the Houthis, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initiated a series of meetings at the White House on Monday morning, and concluded there was a window of opportunity with the Iran-aligned fighters, one of the officials said.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who was already leading U.S. negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, worked through Omani mediators and held indirect talks with the chief Houthi negotiator and spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
Abdulsalam was in turn in contact with the Houthis’ top leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, one of the officials said.
A framework agreement was reached later on Monday, one of the officials said.
By Tuesday, May 6, Trump was ready to announce an accord, declaring the Houthis had capitulated.
“They said please don’t bomb us any more and we’re not going to attack your ships,” he told reporters.
Asked about Reuters’ findings, the Houthis’ Abdulsalam said the group communicated only via Oman and agreed to the ceasefire because the Houthis had been responding to the United States defensively.
“So if they stopped their aggression, we stopped our response,” Abdusalam told Reuters, declining further comment.
A spokesperson for Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
OFF-RAMP
Each side saw some benefit to striking a deal. For the Houthis, it offered an off-ramp that could allow them to rebuild and relieve pressure that, over months or years, could have strategically put them at risk, U.S. officials and experts say.
Washington’s allies in the region also wanted out, one source said.
“Because if the Houthis were under more pressure, their response was going to be to fire on the Saudis or the Emiratis,” one person familiar with the matter said.
At the start of the U.S. campaign on March 15, al-Houthi was defiant, saying in a televised address that his fighters would target U.S. ships in the Red Sea as long as the U.S. continued its attacks on Yemen.
At the time, it appeared the United States might be locked in a costly standoff with a group known for its resiliency, as U.S. forces used up munitions during more than 1,100 strikes. Hegseth said the U.S. would only halt its bombings once the Houthis agreed to stop striking U.S. ships and drones.
The Houthis shot down seven U.S. MQ-9 drones — each worth tens of millions of dollars — since Trump took office.
The Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, whose deployment in the Middle East was extended by Hegseth, lost two fighter jets, including one falling from the deck of the ship after the massive vessel was forced to make a hard turn because of a Houthi attack in the area.
Some analysts questioned the wisdom of the U.S. strategy. The Houthis had already endured nearly a decade of heavy strikes launched by a Saudi-led military coalition, but were able to rebuild to the point where they could threaten the U.S. Navy and Israel.
One of the U.S. officials said a turning point for the Houthis came on April 17, when the United States targeted the Houthi-controlled Ras Isa fuel terminal on the Red Sea coast.
It was the deadliest strike to that point, with the Houthi-run Health Ministry saying 74 people were killed. The Pentagon has not commented on specific numbers of people killed in individual strikes.
“That (damaged) their ability to conduct operations and generate revenue,” the official said, describing efforts to squeeze the group economically.
Asked for comment, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Reuters Trump’s ceasefire was “another good deal for America and our security.”
“The objective at the outset was securing the freedom of navigation, and that was achieved through the restoration of American deterrence.”
Pentagon spokesperson Marine Colonel Chris Devine said in response to Reuters’ findings that the U.S. military campaign successfully degraded Houthi capabilities and “set the stage for the President to achieve a ceasefire agreement.”
LONGER CAMPAIGN PROPOSED
Trump’s campaign to weaken the Houthis came after failed attempts to deter and degrade the group during the Biden administration.
The U.S. military’s Central Command recommended a campaign, lasting at least eight months, that would include a gradual shift to more targeted strikes from the broader ones that took place in the first few weeks, the official added.
The bombings cost well over $1 billion, officials say, and killed a significant number of mid-tier Houthi fighters who trained lower-level forces, as well as destroyed multiple command facilities, air defense systems, weapons manufacturing and storage facilities.
They also destroyed stocks of anti-ship ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, aerial drones and drone ships.
But the strikes didn’t cut Houthi supply lines or fray higher level leadership, and three experts cautioned the group may rapidly recover.
The group’s persistent attacks on Israel also demonstrate that it retains significant capability, despite the U.S. campaign. Those have continued after the May 6 ceasefire announcement.
U.S. officials and other sources also caution that it is unclear how long the ceasefire will hold, and if the Houthis will continue to see the United States and Israel as separate threats, especially as Israel retaliates against Yemen.
“Proxies of Iran and Iran don’t distinguish between what is Israel and what is the United States,” one person familiar with the situation said.
“Their view is that anything Israel does is enabled by the United States. So at some point, I think the Houthis will see themselves as trying to hold the United States accountable.”
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk and Erin Banco; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York, Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, James MacKenzie in Jerusalem and Mohamed Ghobari in Aden; Editing by Don Durfee and Deepa Babington)
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Paleontologists discover 506-million-year-old predator – Phys.org
Paleontologists discover 506-million-year-old predator – Phys.org
Paleontologists discover 506-million-year-old predator Phys.orgThis Fossil’s 3 Eyes Are Not Its Most Surprising Feature The New York Times506-Million-Year-Old ‘Mothra’ Fossil Shows the Weirdness of Early Life gizmodo.comAncient three-eyed ‘sea moth’ used its butt to breathe YahooManitoba monster is a 500-million-year-old Cambrian predator cosmosmagazine.com
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Rioli case could be AFL racism watershed: Hinkley
Rioli case could be AFL racism watershed: Hinkley
The fresh spotlight on AFL racism lifting the spirits of ******* Rioli could be a watershed moment for the code, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says.
Hinkley says the Rioli case has found a positive by triggering wider, sometimes uncomfortable, conversations about AFL Indigenous issues.
Rioli served a one-game suspension for threatening opponents, with Port directly linking the incidents with racism he has suffered.
In the lead-up to the Indigenous round, the AFL said more needs to be done, urging an industry-wide buy-in to stamp out racism.
And many of the code’s Indigenous stars, while welcoming the round’s focus, have called for greater year-round education.
“That was the point of what we did last week as a club … to make sure people just have a bit more understanding of what goes on here,” Hinkley told reporters on Wednesday.
“That has been highlighted well enough.
“And that helps all Indigenous players who are playing our great game, and we create more of those players to come into our game and not dwindling those numbers.
“We make them feel like this is a safe place for them to come and enjoy and express themselves as footballers – I think that’s a huge positive.”
The AFL initially decided not to sanction Rioli for using social media to threaten Western Bulldog Bailey Dale after a recent game.
But after two more incidents were disclosed of Rioli making verbal threats to players in other games, the AFL re-opened his case, resulting in a one-match suspension.
Hinkley said there would be a simple indicator of whether Rioli was ready to return against Geelong at Adelaide Oval on Saturday: a smile.
“When he’s smiling, he’s pretty good … and last week he didn’t smile very often,” Hinkley said.
“We’ll just be very mindful and very, very cautious … clearly his footy is not an issue, we have just got to make sure that he’s emotionally in the right spot.
“It looks really, really positive … he’s had a lot of support from our footy club and I think he certainly appreciates that.
“He’s had a lot of support from the community now, which certainly also helps.”
Indigenous greats Adam Goodes and Cyril Rioli are both effectively lost to the code because of racism, and Hinkley said ******* Rioli also, at times, questioned his future.
“It’s incredibly sad that that is what has happened and the game has made them feel that way,” Hinkley said of Goodes and Cyril Rioli.
“We have to own that. That’s the way they feel.
“I don’t know either of the two boys personally so I can’t comment on their own circumstances.
“But I do know ******* and I think that the game makes him feel a bit that way at times, and that should never happen in today’s world.”
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In one Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat
In one Indian city, reflective paint and bus stop sprinklers offer relief from killer heat
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist.
“Everyone is suffering from the heat,” Yadav said. “I hope they do more of this across the city.”
Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), a level usually not seen for several more weeks, prompting city officials to advise people to stay indoors and stay hydrated.
And yet, coping with that heat is a familiar challenge in Ahmedabad. After a 2010 heat wave killed more than 1,300 people, city and health officials rushed to develop South Asia’s first heat action plan.
The plan, rolled out in 2013 and now replicated across India and South Asia, includes strategies for hospitals, government officials and citizens to react immediately when temperatures rise beyond human tolerance. Public health officials said it’s helped save hundreds of lives every summer.
City officials, with help from climate and health researchers, have implemented two simple yet effective solutions to help those affected most by heat: the poor and those who work outdoors. By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they’ve reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than outside. More recently, the city hung curtains woven of straw and water sprinklers at one bus stop so commuters can get relief from the sun and heat. Officials said they plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city.
Residents said both measures have been a relief even as they brace for at least three more months of sweltering summer.
A simple coat of paint makes all the difference
Throughout the city’s low-income neighborhoods, hundreds of tin-roofed homes have been painted with reflective paint that helps keep the indoors cooler. Residents said their houses were so hot before the roofs were painted that they would spend most of their time outdoors under any shade they could find.
“Earlier, it was really difficult to sleep inside the house,” said Akashbhai Thakor, who works as a delivery van driver and lives with his wife and three-month-old child in Ahmedabad. Thakor’s roof was painted as part of a research project that is trying to measure the impact of the so-called cool roofs.
Early results have been promising. “After the roof was painted, the house is much cooler, especially at night,” said Thakor.
People like Thakor are much more vulnerable to extreme heat because their houses aren’t insulated and, since most of them depend on a daily wage, they must work regardless of the weather, said Priya Bhavsar of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, who is working on the project. Bhavsar said low-cost solutions could be the only respite for thousands of people in the city who can’t afford to buy an air conditioner.
Veer Vanzara, who lives in the same area as Thakor and works in a nearby garment factory, said the heat makes his job much worse, especially since his factory has no ventilation. So his family is grateful for the cool roofs. “The evenings and night are much cooler than before inside our house,” he said.
A bus stop that’s become an oasis from the heat
In Ahmedabad’s city center, a 25-meter stretch of a bus stop has been draped with mats made of straw which, when sprinkled with water, immediately cool the hot wind. Sprinklers installed on the bus stop roof lightly spray cool water on the commuters below, providing instant relief from the blazing heat just a step away.
“When nothing like this was here, it was really hot. What they’ve done is really good. Senior citizens like me can get some cooling from the heat,” said 77-year-old Ratilal Bhoire, who was waiting under the sprinklers with his daughter. Bhoire said when he was younger, Ahmedabad was hot, but it was still possible to walk many kilometers without feeling dizzy, even at the height of summer. “Nowadays you can’t do that,” he said.
Heat is the city’s biggest problem and heat waves — continuous days of extreme heat — are increasing, said Dr. Tejas Shah of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, who oversees the city’s heat action plan. “We are in the ******* of climate change, and it has already shown its effect,” said Shah.
Shah and other city officials said the onset of summer has become a testing time and efforts such as cool roofs and cool bus stops are reducing heat-related illness and deaths. As climate projections predict only hotter and longer summers for his city, Shah said being prepared is the only thing to do.
“It (the heat) needs to be addressed in the proper way,” he said.
___
Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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Tim Kelly: West Coast midfielder closing in on new Eagles contract despite form woes, forward move
Tim Kelly: West Coast midfielder closing in on new Eagles contract despite form woes, forward move
Wallitj Marawar (West Coast) midfielder Tim Kelly is closing in on a new deal to remain with the Eagles despite his challenging start to 2025. Here’s the exclusive details.
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Rigetti Computing (NasdaqCM:RGTI) Reports US$43 Million Profit Despite Drop In Sales
Rigetti Computing (NasdaqCM:RGTI) Reports US$43 Million Profit Despite Drop In Sales
Rigetti Computing recently reported a significant improvement in its financial performance, transitioning from a loss to a profit despite a decline in sales. This positive earnings report, along with notable developments such as securing a multinational grant with QphoX B.V. and the National Quantum Computing Centre, likely added weight to the stock’s 8% rise over the past month. The market’s 4% increase during the same ******* suggests that Rigetti’s upward movement was aligned with broader market trends.
Be aware that Rigetti Computing is showing 4 possible red flags in our investment analysis and 1 of those doesn’t sit too well with us.
NasdaqCM:RGTI Revenue & Expenses Breakdown as at May 2025
Outshine the giants: these 30 early-stage AI stocks could fund your retirement.
Rigetti Computing’s shares delivered a very large total return of 647.35% over the last year. When compared to the US Semiconductor industry, which returned 18.5% during the same *******, Rigetti’s share performance is markedly superior. This significant increase in the stock’s value provides long-term context to the recent short-term gains of 8% noted in the prior month.
The recent developments in Rigetti’s business, such as turning a profit and securing collaborative grants, may contribute to favorable revenue and earnings forecasts. These advancements suggest a strengthened position that could support future growth prospects. Despite these gains, Rigetti remains currently unprofitable overall. The share’s current price is valued at a discount relative to the consensus analyst price target of US$15. With analysts indicating potential for a 52.1% increase, the stock’s upward movement aligns with optimistic market perspectives but requires careful monitoring amid high volatility.
Our valuation report here indicates Rigetti Computing may be overvalued.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include NasdaqCM:RGTI.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email *****@*****.tld
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Trump announces plan to lift punishing sanctions on Syria – CNN
Trump announces plan to lift punishing sanctions on Syria – CNN
Trump announces plan to lift punishing sanctions on Syria CNNTrump news at a glance: president gives Syria ‘chance at greatness’ with promise of sanctions relief The GuardianTrump says he will end Syria sanctions during Saudi visit marked by big money deals NPRTrump pulls sanctions on Syria, extends olive branch to Iran The Washington PostTrump says U.S. will remove all sanctions on Syria CNBC
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Switzerland traffic cameras catch flying mallard
Switzerland traffic cameras catch flying mallard
A duck has been caught speeding on traffic cameras in the town of Koeniz in central Switzerland.
Local police said the mallard – a wild duck – was snapped on radar images on 13 April clocking in at 52km (32 miles) in a 30km zone.
Adding to the mystery, authorities said the duck was likely a repeat offender and shared an image of a similar looking duck travelling in the same spot, at the same speed and on the same date in 2018.
There has been speculation about whether the “notorious racer” duck incident was a belated April Fool’s joke, but the police inspectorate said it is impossible to manipulate images on the radar system.
Authorities said traffic cameras are tested each year by Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Metrology and the photos taken are sealed.
In a Facebook post, Koeniz officials wished the public “a lot of fun” in making sense of the “curious coincidences” seven years in the making.
“We wish you a lot of fun sensing about curious coincidences, criminal machinations of animals and the maximum flight speed of ducks,” the post read.
Some comments have asked what the penalty will be for the “racer duck’s” transgressions.
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Three GPs give their views on assisted dying
Three GPs give their views on assisted dying
Catherine Burns
Health correspondent
Vicki Loader
Health producer
BBC
More than 1,000 GPs in England have shared their views about the assisted dying bill with BBC News
If you ask these three doctors about being GPs, their answers are remarkably similar.
“It can be the best job in the world,” one tells me. It’s “a privilege” another says. They all talk about how they love getting to know their patients and their families.
But all three have different views on assisted dying.
Right now, the law here is clear: medics cannot help patients to take their own lives. But that could change.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being debated in Parliament. And if it goes through, it will give some terminally ill patients in England and Wales the option of an assisted death.
Here, three doctors – Abdul Farooq, Susi Caesar and Gurpreet Khaira, who all have a different view on assisted dying – tell us how they feel about the proposals.
‘A red line I would never cross’
Dr Abdul Farooq is 28 and relatively new to his career as a GP.
We meet at his home in east London. He gives his baby daughter a bottle of milk before heading around the corner to pray in his local mosque.
His religion is absolutely key to his views on assisted dying.
“I believe in the sanctity of life. As a *******, I believe that life is a gift from God, and that no one has the right to take that away,” he says.
Dr Farooq feels taking your own life is wrong, and so, he says, it would be “sinful” for him to be involved in that process – even indirectly.
If this law passed – and a patient came to him asking for help to die – he would refer them to another doctor.
He says anything beyond that would be “a red line I would never cross”.
Dr Farooq’s objections are also informed by his professional experience, particularly his time working in a hospital.
He describes seeing “undignified deaths” – people passing away on busy wards – and says the health system is not getting the basics right in end-of-life care.
“There is so much we can do to make patients comfortable, if we have the right resources available,” he tells me.
“We have a whole field of medicine called palliative medicine that is there to help people towards the end of their life. So why are we not throwing all our resources and money into that and actually making the process of death less scary?”
He’s also concerned about specific parts of the proposed law. Doctors would have to assess if terminally ill patients are expected to die within six months before they are approved for an assisted death.
Dr Farooq sees this as problematic. The final day or so is easy to predict, he says, but adds that some patients he’s expected to die within six months can still be alive a year later.
Is there anything that could change his mind on assisted dying?
“No,” Dr Farooq says without hesitation. “I’m strongly against it. Personally and professionally, I think it’s the wrong thing to do for patients.”
‘I’ll be at the front of the ****** to help’
Dr Susi Caesar has been a GP for 30 years and thinks she probably wouldn’t have previously been so vocal in her support of assisted dying.
Now, she says she is ready to “stick her head above the parapet”.
Recently she lost her beloved dad, Henning. We meet at a lake near Cirencester because being near water reminds her of him.
“My father was the most amazing person and this is so evocative of everything he loved,” she says. “The outdoors, walks, sailing, boats, kayaking, swimming.”
She thinks Henning would be proud of her for talking to us about her views because he was a long-term believer in assisted dying.
When he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Dr Caesar says he became “terribly scared about the manner of his dying”.
“My father was a very proud man, and the thing that was unbearable to him was the idea that he would lose control at the end of his life – of his bodily functions, of his mind, of his ability to be the person that he was.”
By the end, Dr Caesar says her father’s “medication never quite kept up with his symptoms.” For her, the argument over assisted dying comes down to patient choice.
“Everybody is going to die. Every individual deserves the comfort of choice about how they die. I would want it for myself,” she tells me.
She acknowledges that many of her colleagues have “very, very reasonable concerns” about assisted dying. But she says “we have the wisdom to set up systems that will work and get over some of these hurdles.”
I ask if Dr Caesar’s support for assisted dying would translate into her working in this area.
“I will be at the front of the ****** to help people to have the death that they wanted,” she says. “I think that’s the core joy of my job – being with people to the very end of their health journey.”
‘A very guilty place’
Dr Gurpreet Khaira doesn’t have any of the certainty of Dr Farooq and Dr Caesar.
She describes herself as “pretty conflicted about the whole subject” of assisted dying.
Dr Khaira is a GP in Birmingham but also has first-hand experience as a patient.
In 2017, she was diagnosed with breast *******. She found chemotherapy gruelling and says if the ******* ever came back, she wouldn’t want to go through it again.
“I remember feeling very passionate that I should have the choice of whether I go through this kind of treatment, or to say ‘that’s enough now’,” she says.
She says it felt very important for her to have a choice about the end of her life.
Now, she’s a picture of health, striding along a hillside with ease.
As a GP with decades of experience, she worries that vulnerable patients might opt for assisted dying rather than be a burden to their loved ones. Or that some families might coerce vulnerable patients into it.
“That is one of my biggest areas of personal conflict. I know that there are lots of plans to put safeguards in.
“You can be the best doctor or advocate in the world, but you may not pick up where someone is being controlled or manipulated.”
For her, there’s a fundamental conflict between her personal and professional experiences.
But, she adds: “As a doctor, I’d be very reluctant to be handing over a syringe for a patient to make that choice.”
Balancing up these two sides leaves her “in a very guilty place”, she says, but adds that it’s not a weakness to be open minded. For her, making this decision is an “evolving process”.
Personal experience shaping opinions
It’s striking when talking to Dr Farooq, Dr Caesar and Dr Khaira, how much their views on assisted dying reflect their core belief systems.
In that respect, GPs are possibly much like the rest of us.
If this bill does pass into law, doctors will have to consider whether they are willing to work in the area of assisted dying, or not. They could be asked to be involved in the process – whether that’s holding preliminary discussions with patients who want to die, to prescribing a substance for someone to end their own life.
If they don’t want to, no-one will force them.
They will have time to think about it. If MPs do vote in favour of this next month, it could still take years to come into effect.
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Women’s Test wiped from NRL’s 2026 Las Vegas schedule
Women’s Test wiped from NRL’s 2026 Las Vegas schedule
NSW women’s State of Origin coach John Strange hopes to see a women’s game reintroduced to the Las Vegas schedule in 2027 but says the NRL must rethink what that looks like after the Jillaroos thrashed England earlier this year.
The women’s Test has officially been ditched for 2026, with the NRL confirming the Bulldogs, St George Illawarra, North Queensland and Newcastle will open the season in the US in 2026.
The Bulldogs will play the Dragons, while the Knights will face the Cowboys. There will also be a Super League match after thousands of fans made the trip across from the *** to Vegas.
But Australia’s thumping 90-4 victory in the women’s game at Allegiant Stadium wasn’t what organisers had hoped for and showed just how far ahead the NRLW competition was compared with the English league.
Camera IconJillaroos’ Jessica Sergis crosses for a try at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Jonathan Ng Credit: News Corp Australia
NRL officials conceded that four matches were too many this year and there was a sense of fan fatigue, but that shouldn’t spell the end of women’s matches in America.
Strange can accept not having a game next year but says it’s imperative that changes are made to ensure there is a women’s match going forward to help showcase Australia’s incredible talent on the world stage.
“I think if they took it away for a year but then rethought it and then brought it back the next year in a better format then (that would be good),” he said.
“Sometimes I think you have to take a step backwards to go forwards.
“I think that it’s really important that they’re in there every year.
“It’s a great spectacle for the world, but a bit of thought needs to go into it to make sure it’s a good product.
“We all know what happened last time. I think it’s clear everyone knows that the domestic product in the NRLW is a lot stronger than the domestic competition in England.
“Whether it’s an Origin game or the two grand finalists from the previous year, I’d be happy either way because if I’m Origin coach then I get to go to Vegas.”
Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould let slip on Tuesday that his club would be heading over in 2026, with chief executive Aaron Warburton thrilled to build on the club’s recent success in a new market.
“Since the NRL launched this initiative, we’ve been strategically planning for the right moment to bring the Bulldogs to Las Vegas,” he said.
“With our club’s growing momentum and passionate fan base, 2026 represents the perfect opportunity to showcase the Bulldogs on this global stage.”
“It’s an opportunity unlike any other for everyone involved in the club – whether they are part of the playing squad, commercial staff, member or supporter.
The rivalry between the Bulldogs and Dragons will be the highlight of next year’s Vegas event, with both sets of supporters expected to travel in huge numbers.
“If you’re looking for a huge match-up to sell the game globally, it doesn’t get much ******* than a clash between traditional rivals in the Dragons and Bulldogs,” Dragons chairman Andrew Lancaster said.
“We have a passionate and engaged fan base who we know will be keen to support our club in the US and with today’s announcement, Dragons fans are one step closer to an unforgettable Las Vegas 2026 experience.”
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president gives Syria ‘chance at greatness’ with promise of sanctions relief
president gives Syria ‘chance at greatness’ with promise of sanctions relief
Donald Trump has announced plans to lift sanctions on Syria after holding talks with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, describing it as an effort to “give them a chance at greatness”.
The announcement came as the White House also confirmed that Trump would meet with Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former rebel commander whose forces helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad in 2024. It would be the first face-to-face meeting between a US president and a Syrian leader since 2000, when Bill Clinton met with the late leader Hafez al-Assad in Geneva.
Sharaa’s pitch to Trump for sanctions relief included access to Syrian oil, reconstruction contracts and to build a Trump Tower in Damascus, according to sources who spoke to Reuters.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness. It’s their time to shine,” Trump said at an investment forum on Tuesday in Riyadh. “We’re taking them all off. Good luck Syria, show us something very special.”
Here are the key Trump administration stories of today:
Trump announces $142bn US-Saudi arms deal and Syrian sanctions relief
The United States and Saudi Arabia have signed a $142bn arms deal touted by the White House as the “largest defence sales agreement in history”. Trump announced sanctions relief on Syria alongside the Saudi arms deal, in the first stop of his four-day diplomatic tour to the Gulf states aimed at securing big deals and spotlighting the benefits of Trump’s transactional foreign policy.
Read the full story
Top Democrat to obstruct DoJ picks over Trump jet gift
The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, announced on Tuesday he would obstruct all Trump administration justice department nominations until the White House provided answers about plans to accept a luxury aircraft from Qatar for presidential use.
The move has ignited controversy over the constitutional and security implications of accepting a foreign government’s offer to provide what would become the new Air Force One. Schumer called the proposed arrangement “not just naked corruption”, likening it to something so corrupt “that even [Russian president Vladimir] Putin would give a double take”.
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US tech firms secure AI deals as Trump tours Gulf states
A swath of US technology firms announced deals in the Middle East as Trump trumpeted $600bn in commitments from Saudi Arabia to American artificial intelligence companies during a tour of Gulf states.
Among the biggest deals was a set signed by Nvidia. The company will sell hundreds of thousands of AI chips in Saudi Arabia, with a first tranche of 18,000 of its newest “Blackwell” chips going to Humain, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth-fund-owned AI startup, Reuters reported. Cisco on Tuesday said it had signed a deal with G42, the AI firm based in the United Arab Emirates, to help the company develop that country’s AI sector.
Read the full story
Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge over alleged obstruction
A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin judge who was arrested by the FBI last month on allegations that she helped an undocumented immigrant avoid federal authorities.
Hannah Dugan, a county circuit court judge in Milwaukee, was charged on Tuesday with concealing a person from arrest and obstruction of proceedings.
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Trump must realise Putin is an obstacle to peace, Zelenskyy says
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes the current ******* of frantic diplomacy and high-stakes gambits between Russia and Ukraine will end with Trump understanding that Vladimir Putin is the real obstacle to a peace deal.
“Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies. And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process,” said Zelenskyy, speaking to a small group of journalists, including the Guardian, in his office at the presidential administration in Kyiv.
Read the full story
RFK Jr and his grandchildren swam in DC creek contaminated by sewage
The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has revealed that he went swimming with his children in a Washington DC creek that authorities have said is toxic due to contamination by an upstream, aging sewer system.
The “Make America healthy again” crusader attracted attention for the Mother’s Day dip in Dumbarton Oaks Park with his grandchildren Bobcat and Cassius, which he posted about on X. He was also accompanied by relatives Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick and Jackson.
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Harvard hit with $450m more in cuts
Eight federal agencies will terminate a further $450m in grants to Harvard University, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday, escalating its antagonization of the elite institution over what officials frame as inadequate responses to antisemitism on campus. The latest cuts follow a $2.2bn freeze, bringing total federal penalties against Harvard to $2.65bn.
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What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 12 May 2025.
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Microsoft to lay off 6,000 employees, despite strong earnings report – Axios
Microsoft to lay off 6,000 employees, despite strong earnings report – Axios
Microsoft to lay off 6,000 employees, despite strong earnings report AxiosMicrosoft laying off about 6,000 people, or 3% of its workforce CNBCVIDEO: Microsoft laying off nearly 3% of workforce KIRO 7 News SeattleMicrosoft cuts 1,985 WA workers as it lays off 3% of global staff The Seattle TimesMicrosoft has started its culling of managers and noncoders, with about 6,000 cuts planned Business Insider
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