Federal election 2025: Independent Kate Chaney and Liberal candidate Tom White predict close call in Curtin
Federal election 2025: Independent Kate Chaney and Liberal candidate Tom White predict close call in Curtin
Kate Chaney and her Liberal rival Tom White are predicting a tight contest in the fight for Curtin, saying the result may not be known tonight, expecting potentially just a few hundred votes separating the two.
Curtin, won by Teal MP Ms Chaney in 2022, is regarded as a barometer for how Peter Dutton and the Liberals perform today.
The Opposition leader openly admitted throughout the campaign it was very unlikely he would emerge Prime Minister tonight if the conservatives could not win back the one-time conservative fortress.
Ms Chaney started the day in West Leederville, accompanied by her husband Bill Keane and children George, Fred and Olive.
For her son George, it was his first time voting in a Federal election.
Mr White voted in Claremont, arriving at Freshwater Bay Primary School where his twin brother Nick and parents were waiting for him, handing out how-to-vote cards.
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It was obvious from the long family embraces within both the Chaney and White camps, this had been an emotional journey for not just the candidates, but for their loved ones.
“I don’t think we’ll know the result tonight,” Ms Chaney told The West ***********.
“I think it’s going to be very close.”
Mr White agreed.
“I’ve been saying consistently that this is going to be an incredibly tight race,” he said.
“I am not willing to make any predictions, but I will say I think it will be very close.”
“Ms Chaney was as defiant as ever, fielding off questions of perhaps too close-relationships with the Greens and Labor during this campaign.
Ms Chaney, after casting her vote, said as an independent she hadn’t done deals with any political parties.
“The ridiculous attack ads and conspiracy theories that we see coming out in the media, just shows the level of desperation there is from the major parties,” she said.
“There is no man behind me pulling the strings. Not Anthony Albanese, not Simon Holmes a Court, not Peter Dutton.
“I am independent. I answer to the people of Curtin.”
With polling showing the likely outcome of today’s election is a ********* government, it could well be Ms Chaney, other Teals and the Greens are cast in the role of kingmakers.
Ms Chaney denies it, but it is generally acknowledged she would help Mr Albanese, rather than Mr Dutton, form government if she retains her seats and her support is needed to form government.
Asked by The West ***********, whether she’d pick up the phone to Mr Albanese or Mr Dutton tonight if they called her for support, Ms Chaney answered: “I will wait until I see whether I’ve won my seat or not and see what happens across the country.
“I don’t think we will have results on that for a while.”
Mr White said it had become obvious during the campaign that Ms Chaney had a “degree of cosiness” with the Greens and Labor.
“There is clearly a high degree of cosiness between the Teal campaign, the Greens as well as Labor,” he said.
Asked whether he believed a deal had already been struck between Ms Chaney and Labor for her support in the event of a ********* government, Mr White said: “It’s reasonable to ask that question, but who knows”.
“Certainly I have been told (there has been).”
Curtin, up until the 2022 election, was considered a safe Liberal seat.
Former deputy Liberal leader and foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop had held the seat until her retirement from politics.
Her successor Celia Hammond lost the seat to Ms Chaney three years ago.
About $3 million has been spent by the Chaney-White camps in the fierce battle.
Ms Chaney, as she was in 2022, has been financially supported by Climate 200.
Cost-of-living and housing affordability have been the main focus on voters, but Anthony Albanese’s decision to ban live sheep exports in 2028 and his refusal to yet approve the extension of the north west shelf gas operation have also been hot topics in Curtin.
Ms Chaney initially supported the live sheep ban, before changing her mind and opposing it.
And her messaging around Woodside’s application for a 45-year-extension to its North West shelf operation has also been confusing – although she told The West *********** during the campaign she was leaning towards supporting it as long as tough conditions were imposed.
Mr White opposed the ban on live sheep exports, with Mr Dutton promising to lift the ban if elected.
Mr White also supports the Woodside licence extension, which Mr Dutton has pledged to make a decision on within 30 days of coming to government.
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Scientists May Have Found a Natural Alternative to Ozempic
Scientists May Have Found a Natural Alternative to Ozempic
Scientists may have identified a way to naturally regulate blood sugar levels and sugar cravings in a similar fashion to drugs like Ozempic.
In mice and humans, the key to unlocking this natural process was found to be a gut microbe and its metabolites – the compounds it produces during digestion.
By increasing the abundance of this one gut microbe in diabetic mice, researchers led by a team at Jiangnan University in China showed they can “orchestrate the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1”.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that is naturally produced by the body and which helps regulate blood sugar levels and feelings of fullness. GLP-1’s release is stimulated by certain foods and gut microbes, and its mechanism of action is mimicked by drugs like semaglutide (the ingredient behind Ozempic).
People with type 2 diabetes typically have impaired GLP-1 function, leading to issues with blood sugar control, which is why Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists work as treatments.
These drugs mimic natural processes in the body, and while they have proved very effective, some researchers want to figure out how to get the body to produce more GLP-1 on its own.
“A growing body of research has revealed that our cravings for dietary components originate from signals sent from the gut, a key organ in transmitting dietary preferences,” explain the authors in their paper published in January.
“However, which genes, gut flora, and metabolites in the gut microenvironment are involved in the regulation of sugar preference is currently unclear.”
The new research suggests gut microbes like Bacteroides vulgatus and their metabolites may help shape a person’s sweet tooth.
In experiments, if mice could not produce a gut protein, called Ffar4, the researchers found the gut colonies of B. vulgatus shrank. This, in turn, decreased the release of a hormone called FGF21, which is tied to sugar cravings.
Diagram of GLP-1 agonist pathway and FGF21 pathway. (Ayesh, Biomedicines, 2024)
In studies of mice taking GLP-1 agonists, researchers have found the drugs stimulate FGF21.
Meanwhile, in humans, some studies suggest that those with genetic variants for the FGF21 hormone are about 20 percent more likely to be top-ranking consumers of sweet foods.
In a blood analysis of 60 participants with type 2 diabetes and 24 healthy controls, the researchers in China found that Ffar4 mutations, which reduce FGF21 production, are linked to an increased preference for sugar, “which may be an important contributor to the development of diabetes.”
What’s more, the gut microbiome could be a key mediator of that process.
Sure enough, the research team found that when mice were treated with a metabolite of B. vulgatus, it boosted GLP-1 secretion, which then also triggered the secretion of FGF21.
Together, this meant more blood sugar control and fewer sugar cravings in mice.
Whether the same will extend to humans remains to be seen, but the authors claim their study “provides a strategy for diabetes prevention.”
The study was published in Nature Microbiology.
An earlier version of this article was first published in January 2025.
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Kirk Medas, ‘Floribama Shore’ Star, Dies at 33 – The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Medas, ‘Floribama Shore’ Star, Dies at 33 – The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Medas, ‘Floribama Shore’ Star, Dies at 33 The Hollywood ReporterFloribama Shore Star Kirk Medas Dies at 33, Hours After Former Castmates Plea for Help people.comFloribama Shore Star Kirk Medas Dead at 33 E! Online‘Floribama Shore’ star, 33, fighting for his life in ICU after being diagnosed with ‘severe’ illness Page Six’Floribama Shore’ star dead at 33 Fox News
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WA Police seize ‘extensive quantity’ of psylocibin from Brabham property
WA Police seize ‘extensive quantity’ of psylocibin from Brabham property
Drug and firearm squad officers executed a search warrant and raided a property in Perth’s northern suburbs.
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Israel strikes near Syria’s presidential palace in ‘message’ to new leader Sharaa
Israel strikes near Syria’s presidential palace in ‘message’ to new leader Sharaa
DAMASCUS/SWEIDA, Syria (Reuters) -Israel bombed an area near the presidential palace in Damascus early on Friday, in its clearest warning yet to Syria’s new Islamist-led authorities of its readiness to ramp up military action in the name of the country’s Druze *********.
Syria’s government called the bombing a “dangerous escalation” amid increasing hostility between the neighbours.
Israel has escalated military operations in Syria since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad in December, with bombings across the country and ground forces entering its southwest, while calling for Syria to remain decentralised and isolated.
It has framed its stance around its suspicion of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – who once headed a branch of al Qaeda before renouncing ties to the group in 2016 – and a desire to protect the Druze, a ********* sect that is an offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
The Israeli military said troops were deployed in southern Syria to prevent the return of hostile forces to areas around Druze villages. It said forces were ready for defence and “various scenarios”.
It added that five Syrian-Druze citizens were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel after sustaining wounds.
Earlier Israel’s military said it struck an area “adjacent” to Sharaa’s palace in Damascus, without further details. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The strike was “a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow (Syrian) forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Syria’s presidency condemned what it described as a “bombardment on the presidential palace” and said it marked a “dangerous escalation”.
“Israel doesn’t want peace. Nor does it care for the groups it purportedly protects by bombing others,” Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Razan Saffour wrote on X, adding Israel had never bombed near the palace when Assad was in power.
A Syrian official told Reuters the target was about 100 metres (330 feet) east of the palace’s perimeter.
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE
It followed days of clashes in Syria between Sunni ******* and Druze gunmen triggered by a voice recording purportedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed. The fighting killed more than two dozen people in towns around Damascus and prompted an initial Israeli “warning strike” on a town on the capital’s outskirts that killed one member of Syria’s security forces.
Israeli opposition parties expressed support for operations in Syria.
“Israel cannot abandon the Druze in Syria to their fate,” centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid said on the social media platform X. “The Syrian regime must know they are our allies and we will not stand by while they are attacked.”
This week’s fighting posed the latest challenge for Sharaa, who has repeatedly vowed to unite all of Syria’s armed forces under one structure and govern the country, fractured by 14 years of civil war until Assad’s overthrow, in an inclusive way.
But incidents of sectarian violence, notably the killing of hundreds of pro-Assad Alawites in March, have hardened fears among ********* groups about the now-dominant Islamists and sparked condemnation from global powers.
On Thursday, the clashes began spreading further south to the province of Sweida, which is predominantly Druze.
‘DON’T NEED ANYONE’S PROTECTION’
Late on Thursday, Druze community leaders and Syrian government officials met in Sweida in a bid to defuse tensions. Their concluding statement said residents of Sweida would protect their province as a part of Syria’s internal security forces, and rejected “division, separation or secession”.
“Syria is our mother nation, we do not have an alternative country,” Sheikh Laith al-Balous, one of the Druze leaders in the meeting, told Syria TV in an interview when asked whether Israel’s strikes on Syria were meant to protect the Druze. “We don’t need anyone’s protection.”
Syrian security forces were patrolling the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra in Sweida province on Friday, where residents had fled clashes the previous day between approaching Sunni Islamist militants and Druze fighters defending the town.
Residents told Reuters that when they returned, they found their homes had been looted. Salman Olaiwi said his door had been broken down and money was missing, but that he was glad an agreement had been reached to end the fighting.
Israel has a small Druze community and there are also some 24,000 Druze living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel annexed the territory in 1981, a move that has not been recognised by most countries or the United Nations.
Some Druze in Israel serving in the Israeli military wrote to Netanyahu demanding help for their kin in Syria, saying “hundreds of fighters” were ready to volunteer to help.
(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi and Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Karam Masri in Al-Soura Al-Kubra, Timour Azhari and Tala Ramadan in Dubai and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; editing by Himani Sarkar, Lincoln Feast and Mark Heinrich)
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Rockets 115-107 Warriors (May 2, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN
Rockets 115-107 Warriors (May 2, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN
Rockets 115-107 Warriors (May 2, 2025) Game Recap ESPNNBA pundit gives eerily specific Warriors-Rockets Game 6 prediction SFGATEWhat Dray told Kerr before coach pulled Warriors starters in Game 5 Yahoo SportsHouston Rockets force Game 7 as Golden State Warriors lose at home KRON4Warriors vs. Rockets odds, prediction, Game 6 picks: Golden State tries to close out first-round series CBS Sports
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Uganda general says opposition figure ‘in my basement’
Uganda general says opposition figure ‘in my basement’
Uganda’s military chief, the son of President Yoweri Museveni, says he is holding an opposition activist in his basement and has threatened violence against him, after the man’s party said he was abducted by armed men last week.
Eddie Mutwe, who also acts as the chief bodyguard for Uganda’s leading opposition figure, Bobi Wine, went missing last weekend after being grabbed near the capital Kampala by armed men, the National Unity Platform (NUP) party has said.
The police have said they do not have Mutwe, whose real name is Edward Ssebuufu, and until now there had been no word on his whereabouts.
In a series of posts on X late on Thursday, Chief of Defence Forces Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted what appeared to be a photograph of Mutwe, who was shirtless, and said he had captured him “like a grasshopper”.
Reuters was not immediately able to independently verify the photograph, but the NUP party later re-used it on their X handle in a post seeking support for Mutwe.
“He is in my basement … You are next!,” Kainerugaba wrote in a post responding to one from Wine about Mutwe’s disappearance.
“I still have to castrate him,” he said a few hours later, adding that he would release Mutwe only when Museveni gave the order.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission, a government body, on Thursday ordered Kainerugaba to release Mutwe, who they said had been unlawfully detained since April 26, or he would be “liable for contempt under … the constitution”.
Spokespeople for the Ugandan government, military and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Uganda’s opposition has accused Museveni of fast-tracking Kainerugaba’s military career to prepare him to eventually succeed to the presidency, despite his son’s frequent inflammatory remarks on social media, including threats in 2022 to invade neighbouring Kenya and in January to behead Wine.
Wine is a popular musician-turned-politician who came second in the 2021 election.
Museveni, 80, has ruled Uganda since 1986 and is expected to stand for re-election next January. His opponents and human rights activists have regularly accused his government of wide-ranging abuses including abductions and ******** detentions.
Museveni has denied these allegations.
“Eddie Mutwe’s ordeal is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and crush the aspirations of young people yearning for freedom,” the Uganda Law Society said in a statement.
Wine, who says the 2021 vote was marred by massive fraud, wrote on X on Friday afternoon that soldiers had just raided his party headquarters ahead of a planned gathering to support Mutwe.
Kizza Besigye, another opposition leader, who challenged Museveni in four elections, was detained in November and remains in jail on charges including treason.
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Rates are notably lower than last year
Rates are notably lower than last year
Mortgage interest rates have decreased this week. According to Freddie Mac, the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has fallen by five basis points to 6.76%, and the 15-year fixed rate is down two basis points to 5.92%.
These declines may seem unremarkable. But the ******* picture tells a different story. The average 30-year rate is actually down a full 46 basis points since this week last year, and the 15-year rate has dropped by 55 basis points. When it comes to interest rates, hopeful home buyers are in a better position than a year ago.
Dig deeper: 2025 housing market — Is it a good time to buy a house?
Have questions about buying, owning, or selling a house? Submit your question to Yahoo’s panel of Realtors using this Google form.
Here are the current mortgage rates, according to the latest Zillow data:
30-year fixed: 6.61%
20-year fixed: 6.30%
15-year fixed: 5.90%
5/1 ARM: 6.73%
7/1 ARM: 7.03%
30-year VA: 6.16%
15-year VA: 5.57%
5/1 VA: 6.26%
Remember, these are the national averages and rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Learn more: Should you lock in a mortgage rate?
These are today’s mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:
30-year fixed: 6.64%
20-year fixed: 6.31%
15-year fixed: 6.01%
5/1 ARM: 6.97%
7/1 ARM: 7.42%
30-year VA: 6.23%
15-year VA: 5.91%
5/1 VA: 6.20%
Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Mortgage refinance rates are often higher than rates when you buy a house, although that’s not always the case.
Learn more: Want to refinance your mortgage? Here are 7 home refinance options.
Your mortgage rate plays a large role in how much your monthly payment will be. Use this mortgage calculator to see how your mortgage amount, rate, and term length will impact your monthly payments:
To get an even more detailed look at your potential monthly payment, use our Yahoo Finance mortgage calculator. It also factors in your homeowners insurance, property taxes, mortgage insurance, and HOA fees.
A mortgage interest rate is a fee for borrowing money from your lender, expressed as a percentage. You can choose from two types of rates: fixed or adjustable.
A fixed-rate mortgage locks in your rate for the entire life of your loan. For example, if you get a 30-year mortgage with a 6% interest rate, your rate will stay at 6% for the entire 30 years unless you refinance or sell.
An adjustable-rate mortgage locks in your rate for a predetermined amount of time and then changes it periodically. Let’s say you get a 7/1 ARM with an introductory rate of 6%. Your rate would be 6% for the first seven years, then the rate would increase or decrease once per year for the last 23 years of your term. Whether your rate goes up or down depends on several factors, such as the economy and housing market.
At the beginning of your mortgage term, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest. Your monthly payment toward mortgage principal and interest stays the same throughout the years — however, less and less of your payment goes toward interest, and more goes toward the mortgage principal or the amount you originally borrowed.
Learn more: Adjustable-rate vs. fixed-rate mortgages
A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is a good choice if you want a lower mortgage payment and the predictability that comes with having a fixed rate. Just know that your rate will be higher than if you choose a shorter term and will result in paying significantly more in interest over the years.
You might like a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage if you want to pay off your home loan quickly and save money on interest. These shorter terms come with lower interest rates, and since you’re cutting your repayment time in half, you’ll save a lot in interest in the long run. But you’ll need to be sure you can comfortably afford the higher monthly payments that come with 15-year terms.
Read more: How to decide between a 15-year and 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
Typically, an adjustable-rate mortgage could be good if you plan to sell before the introductory rate ******* ends. Adjustable rates usually start lower than fixed rates, then your rate will change after a predetermined amount of time. However, 5/1 and 7/1 ARM rates have similar to (or even higher than) 30-year fixed rates recently. Before getting an ARM just for a lower rate, compare your rate options from term to term and lender to lender.
Average mortgage rates have decreased over the last two weeks, and they’re down roughly half a percentage point since last May.
Even though mortgage rates have fallen over the last year, they probably won’t plummet in the short term. So, when will mortgage rates go down enough to lower your monthly payment significantly? It could be months, if not well over a year. If you are ready to buy a house but holding out for lower rates, it might not be worth the wait.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average 30-year mortgage rate is down five basis points today to 6.76%, and the average 15-year mortgage rate has decreased by two basis points to 5.92%.
According to its April forecast, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) expects the 30-year mortgage rate to be 6.8% in Q3 2025 and 6.7% by the end of the year. Fannie Mae’s April forecast is a little more optimistic, predicting 6.3% in Q3 and 6.2% in Q4.
Mortgage rates could increase here and there in 2025, but there’s a good chance they will actually decrease a little by the end of the year.
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Ryan Garcia stunned by Rolando Romero in seismic Times Square upset – The Guardian
Ryan Garcia stunned by Rolando Romero in seismic Times Square upset – The Guardian
Ryan Garcia stunned by Rolando Romero in seismic Times Square upset The GuardianRomero disrupts Garcia’s plans in massive upset ESPNRyan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero predictions, odds, picks: Who comes out on top in Times Square triple-header? Yahoo SportsWhat time is Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero boxing match? Ring walk time for fight USA TodayDe La Hoya: ‘No Need To Get Into Politics,’ He, Holly Sonders Promote First Of Its Kind Ryan Garcia Fight OutKick
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Europe cities, five for 2025
Europe cities, five for 2025
CATCH A SWISH NEW TRAIN IN LONDON
Amsterdam. Paris. Brussels. Just some of the storied destinations you can reach on the Eurostar from London. But from July there will be another tempting train to ride, a new luxury sleeper service by Belmond, the company behind the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.
Departing from London Victoria, the Britannic Explorer will offer upscale multi-night rail journeys to some of the most picturesque pockets of England and Wales. Three and six-day itineraries will showcase gorgeous slices of coast and countryside in Cornwall, the Lake District, Pembrokeshire and Snowdonia.
The window scenery will be complemented by lots of swanky features and flavours on board. Each of the train’s 18 elegantly-furnished cabins have ensuite bathrooms — and you’ll get a butler if you book a grand suite. In the dining cars, there’s afternoon tea and modern British menus curated by Simon Rogan, chef-patron at L’Enclume, a three Michelin star restaurant in Cumbria, with Sven-Hanson Britt, formerly of The Ritz in London, now the Britannic Explorer’s executive head chef.
There’s one catch for this train. Fares are not exactly inexpensive. Bank on paying from around $13,000 per passenger. It’s expected that services will run annually on dates between March and November.
belmond.com
Camera IconBritannic Explorer Observation Car. Credit: Belmond HAVE A SPLASH IN PARIS’ ICONIC RIVER
Distinctly less taxing on the wallet, but requiring a bit more intestinal fortitude, is the prospect of swimming in the Seine. Inspired perhaps by watching the triathletes crawling through the river in last year’s Olympics, ordinary folk will be able to test out their strokes in Paris’ famous waterway this northern summer following the completion of a $2.4 billion clean-up project to enhance the water quality.
There are three new quayside sites where members of the public can swim freely from, including Bras Marie, which is in the heart of Paris, within strolling distance of the rejuvenated Notre-Dame Cathedral. The Seine swims will add an extra layer to the Paris-Plages project, which has tried to bring a touch of the Cote d’Azur to the French capital’s river and canals since 2002, with pop-up beaches and activities from July to early September. If you’re still wary about ducking beneath the surface of the Seine — this will be the first public swimming allowed in the river since it was previously banned in 1923 — you could go kayaking or canoeing instead.
parisjetaime.com
Camera IconThis northern summer, public swimming will be allowed in the River Seine in the centre of Paris. Credit: Steve McKenna/ SAVOUR THE RENAISSANCE OF THE POLISH CAPITAL
Krakow may hog the tourists, but those who make the effort to visit Warsaw are usually impressed by Poland’s phoenix-like capital. In ruins after World War II, and under ********** rule until 1989, the city has rebounded in recent decades and is now spoken about in glowing terms, similar to when it was dubbed the “Paris of the East” before all the 20th century turmoil.
From the buzzy cafe terraces in the meticulously-restored old town (Stare Miasto) to the promenades and natural beaches hugging the Vistula River, to the sprinkling of Michelin-starred restaurants and slick galleries, Warsaw is also the setting for one of Europe’s most keenly-anticipated cultural openings in 2025.
After being shifted around from temporary home to temporary home for two decades, the city’s Museum of Modern Art finally has a permanent base: a purpose-built, light-filled space facing the Palace of Culture and Science, a towering landmark from the Soviet era. Designed by New York-based architect Thomas Phifer, the museum exhibits pieces by late Polish icons Magdalena Abakanowicz and Alina Szapocznikow (who was a Holocaust survivor), as well as from overseas talents like Sandra Mujinga, a Congo-born Norwegian abstract artist who’s making waves with her inventive audio-visual installations.
go2warsaw.pl
Camera IconMirabell Garden, Salzburg, one of the locations in The Sound Of Music. Credit: Tourismus Salzburg EMBRACE THE SOUNDS OF SALZBURG
Birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, backdropped by snow-dusted alps, stirring tunes enlivening its postcard-pretty streets and gardens, Salzburg is rarely anything other than a delight. This year it’s upping the ante further with a medley of themed events, exhibitions and experiences to mark the 60th anniversary of The Sound Of Music, a much-loved movie shot in and around the Austrian city.
Whether you’re attending a live performance of the musical in one of Salzburg’s endearing theatres — such as the Salzburger Marionettentheater, with puppeteers pulling the characters’ strings — or admiring the nostalgia-inducing filming locations with charismatic guides (or on new self-guided audio tours), don’t be surprised to find yourself grinning and humming along to classic tunes like Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss and My Favourite Things.
salzburg.info
Camera IconNonnberg Priory near Salzburg, one of the stars of The Sound Of Music. Credit: Erzdiözese Salzburg – Josef Kra CHECK INTO A PALATIAL PAD IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
Malta is a perennial favourite on the Mediterranean cruise ship circuit, both a port of call and a hub for embarking and disembarking, But the dreamy UNESCO sites, cinematic coastline and quaint fishing villages of this sun-baked archipelago makes it worth sticking around for several days at least.
You could easily spend a week here, hopping between the three main islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. From mid-2025, you’ll be able to base yourself at the Romegas Hotel, a snazzy 23-room boutique number in a converted 500-year-old aristocratic palazzo in the honey-hued streets of Valletta, Malta’s compact yet vibrant capital.
Many of the building’s original features have been preserved, including the traditional enclosed Maltese balconies, while there will be a contemporary fizz to the hotel’s bar, restaurant and rooftop pool, which looks out towards the sparkling Med. Step out the front door and you’re just a five-minute amble from St John’s Co-Cathedral, built in the 16th century for the Order of the Knights of St John and renowned for its breathtaking baroque interior and paintings by Caravaggio.
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Camera IconTraditional Maltese balconies are a feature of the old town of Valletta. Credit: Malta Tourism
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‘It’s taking itself on quite the adventure’
‘It’s taking itself on quite the adventure’
Australia is well-known for its wild animals, but locals were stunned by the appearance of one particular snake on the loose near Sydney.
What’s happening?
Local station 9 News Sydney shared a video showing a large red-tailed boa constrictor near a boat launch in the Sylvania area.
“These snakes are native to Brazil,” the reporter shared. “So the assumption is this was someone’s ****, it’s gotten loose, and now it’s taking itself on quite the adventure.”
The news report added that the species isn’t known to be aggressive and is actually considered “quite docile.” But its constricting abilities can be dangerous, and people were warned to keep their distance and contact authorities if they spot the creature.
Why is a non-native species in Australia concerning?
As the coverage from 9 News mentioned, the boa constrictor poses a threat to Australia’s biosecurity. It is also ******** to own the animal as a **** in the country as a matter of protecting native species and local ecosystems, ABC News Australia explained.
The *********** Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry has also described the economic significance of maintaining biosecurity — a term that generally refers to policies and procedures intended to safeguard humans, animals, food, agriculture, and the environment from potential biological dangers.
Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?
“Our biosecurity system protects agriculture, forestry and fisheries export industries worth $51 billion; a tourism sector worth $50 billion; environmental assets worth more than $5.7 trillion; and more than 1.6 million jobs,” the DAFF explains. The department also notes that maintaining a healthy environment allows for better protection of the culture “of our wider community and First Nations people.”
The red-tailed boa constrictor in this case posed the risk of becoming an invasive predator and throwing the local ecosystem out of balance. It also posed the risk of bringing illness, such as the fatal inclusion body disease, to native snake populations, according to ABC News Australia.
What’s being done about non-native species?
A few days after the snake was first spotted, ABC News Australia reported that it was successfully captured by Shire Snake Wranglers, a company licensed to handle snakes.
More broadly, Australia has the country’s Biosecurity Act 2015 to help back efforts to protect both native and non-native species from potentially harmful situations.
Meanwhile, last year, a joint initiative from DAFF and CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, launched the Catalysing Australia’s Biodiversity project to invest $55 million over six years in continuing to innovate biosecurity measures. This came on top of the $1 billion already committed to the cause.
In addition to formal efforts to prevent animal trafficking and the spread of invasive species, awareness campaigns to educate the public about the many hazards of selling and buying animals outside the law may be helpful in supporting a culture shift away from owning exotic but ******** pets — including those with the potential to escape into local habitats.
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Trump’s Tariff on Cheap ******** Imports Will Cost Big Tech Billions
Trump’s Tariff on Cheap ******** Imports Will Cost Big Tech Billions
The expansion of the loophole for tariff-free shipments of goods nearly a decade ago gave rise to Temu, Shein and other low-cost online retailers offering items straight from ******** factories at unfathomable discounts.
It also unleashed something else — a cascade of billions of dollars of digital advertising that provided a windfall for Meta, Alphabet and other technology industry giants. Temu and Shein, jockeying for the attention of American shoppers, blanketed seemingly every inch of the internet with their ads. In the last two years, only Amazon spent more on online advertising in the United States than Shein or Temu.
Now, the advertising bonanza might be coming to an end after the demise of the shipping loophole that spurred it.
On Friday, President Trump eliminated the exemption that had allowed goods made in mainland China and Hong Kong valued at less than $800 to enter the United States without being subject to import taxes. For Temu and Shein, this means they are now subject to tariffs of as much as 145 percent to bring over ******** goods. Last week, Temu started adding “import charges” to certain products, which more than doubled the overall price to buy and ship the items.
A Temu spokesperson said on Friday that the company had stopped shipping products from China directly to customers in the United States, and that its U.S. orders would now be shipped from local warehouses in America, as the business “transitions to a local fulfillment model.” Shein did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
The new tariffs are expected to deal a punishing blow to companies built on selling goods at rock-bottom prices and attracting customers through aggressive online advertising.
Using the slogan “Shop Like a Billionaire,” Temu bought advertising time during the Super Bowl.
Temu’s parent company, PDD Holdings, used a similar strategy for its ******** e-commerce app, Pinduoduo, in China, spending lavishly on advertising to grow rapidly in a competitive market.
Sky Canaves, a principal analyst for retail and e-commerce at the research firm eMarketer, said the ads from Temu and Shein were once “inescapable” on search, social media and apps. But that is changing.
“They’ve already pulled back their advertising pretty heavily,” she said.
Over a two-week ******* starting March 31, Temu spent 31 percent less on U.S. daily advertising on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snap, X and YouTube than its average daily spending on those platforms in the previous 30 days, according to estimates from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm. Shein’s daily advertising outlays on its social networks in the United States were down 19 percent over the same two weeks.
Temu and Shein, which had flooded Google in the United States with ads for the goods they sell, started to disappear from the platform in April. On April 5, Temu accounted for 19 percent of all U.S. ads displayed on Google Shopping, but that figure dropped to zero a week later, according to research by Tinuiti, a marketing firm. Shein went from around 20 percent in early April to zero by April 16.
Tinuiti identified the tariffs as the main factor behind the advertising pullback. It said the reduction in spending coincided with the raising of prices by both companies on certain products.
Without the constant advertising presence, Temu’s and Shein’s apps have fallen off the charts of the 10 most downloaded mobile apps in the United States. Temu served about 30 million daily users in the United States, the company disclosed in a lawsuit filed against Shein in 2023.
At Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, some Asian retailers had already reduced their U.S. advertising spending in anticipation of the end of the so-called de minimis exemption, Susan Li, Meta’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call with investors on Wednesday. Some of the spending has been redirected to Meta platforms in other markets, but the spending in April was down from a year earlier, she said. Ms. Li did not name any of the companies.
Investors were closely watching what Meta said because advertisers from China, led by Temu and Shein, had been one of the company’s fastest-growing segments. Last year, advertisers from China generated $18.4 billion in revenue for Meta, accounting for about 11 percent of its total and more than doubling in size since 2022.
Snap, a social media firm, said that “a subset of advertisers” had cut back on spending because of the changes to the shipping loophole. The company declined to provide a forecast for its current quarter, citing the uncertainty caused by the tariffs. Snap’s shares fell 12 percent after the announcement.
Last week, Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, said changes to the tariff loophole “will obviously cause a slight headwind to our ads business in 2025,” primarily from Asian e-commerce companies. He also did not identify specific companies.
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How Trump Dismantled His First-Term Policy on Crimea
How Trump Dismantled His First-Term Policy on Crimea
After more than three years of war, President Trump proposed a peace plan for Russia and Ukraine in late April that would have the United States recognize Moscow’s 2014 takeover of the Crimean peninsula. Michael D. Shear, a former White House correspondent for The New York Times in London, explains how the proposal, which Ukraine has rejected, is a reversal from Mr. Trump’s first term as president.
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Message From the Russian Military: ‘We Lost Your Son’
Message From the Russian Military: ‘We Lost Your Son’
For months, Elvira Kaipova had not heard from her son Rafael, a Russian soldier deployed in Ukraine.
Military officials responded to her repeated questions about his whereabouts by saying he was on active duty and therefore incommunicado. Then, late last November, two days after they again made that assertion, she learned that he’d gone missing on Nov. 1 — from a Telegram channel that helps military families.
“We lost your son,” Aleksandr Sokolov, the officer in Rafael’s unit in charge of family liaison, told her when she traveled to its headquarters in western Russia.
“Lost him how?” she says she responded, alarmed and angry, especially when the officer explained that after Rafael had failed to check in by radio, a search had proved impossible. “How do we search for him?” she says the officer told her.
Variations on that grim scenario have been repeated countless times since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The Russian Ministry of Defense lacks any formal, organized effort to track down legions of missing soldiers, according to bereaved families, private organizations that try to assist them and military analysts. Relatives, stuck in limbo, fend for themselves with scant government information.
The ministry itself declined to comment for this article. Mr. Sokolov, the liaison officer, said in a text message: “You do realize that I can’t comment on anything.”
Even if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace agreement, the hunt for missing soldiers is expected to endure for years, if not decades.
Rafael Kaipov, from Tyumen, Russia, has been missing since Nov. 1, according to his mother, Elvira Kaipova.
The defense ministry has not published any statistics about the number of missing, which military analysts and families say is because it does not know the number. Estimates run to the tens of thousands.
Anna Tsivilyova, a deputy minister of defense and a cousin of President Vladimir V. Putin, told the State Duma last November that 48,000 relatives of the missing had submitted DNA samples in hope of identifying remains, although that included some duplicate requests from the same family.
In Ukraine, “Want to Find,” a government project to help locate Russian servicemen captured or killed there, said it had received more than 88,000 requests for information, with over 9,000 in April alone. It noted that the overall number of missing is still unknown.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which tries to locate missing from both sides, whether civilians or military, has 110,000 cases submitted.
The family of Isakhanov Ravazan, a 25-year-old soldier, last received a brief voice message from him on Nov. 9. During a battle soon afterward, his aunt said, he radioed his commander that he could not stanch the bleeding from a bad wound. He has not been heard from since.
“No one saw him dead,” said his aunt, who, like several people in this article, did not want to be named for fear of falling afoul of laws against detailing battlefield losses. “Maybe he saved himself, maybe someone found him, we are still holding onto hope that he is alive,” she said. “There is no peace for the soul. I cannot sleep at night, and neither can his parents.”
Most missing soldiers likely died fighting and were abandoned on the battlefield, experts said. There are not enough teams to collect bodies, and the constant deployment of drones makes retrieval too dangerous.
Commanders have enough trouble delivering food and ammunition, and that is the priority, said a military analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent organization in exile that tracks the conflict. The analyst, who declined to use his name to avoid jeopardizing relatives still in Russia, said only families of the soldiers care if bodies are collected, “and there is no punishment for alienating relatives.”
A Ukrainian man from the occupied city of Luhansk, who was dragooned into service as a battlefield medic and who also declined to be identified, said of his experience: “Hundreds of people were left lying out there. Every day, dozens were wounded or killed.”
Even when bodies are retrieved, identification is problematic. Often remains can be removed only after the battle lines shift markedly so that attack drones fly elsewhere, and that could take months or even years.
The military morgue in the western city of Rostov, officially known as the Center for the Reception, Processing and Dispatch of the Deceased, is the main clearing center.
When she learned that her son was missing, Ms. Kaipova, who is married and has one other son, flew there first. “Everything is overcrowded,” she said, arriving at 7 a.m. to submit a DNA sample and leaving at 10 p.m. “Wives, mothers, fathers — all crying, sobbing, waiting.”
Investigators there told her and others that they face a backlog of around 15,000 unidentified servicemen. The sluggish pace, the constant referrals to different government agencies and the lack of basic information has families of the missing on a slow boil. Anger overflows from numerous online chat rooms where relatives seek help.
In one comment on the Vkontakte social network, a participant named Polina Medvedeva lambasted military commanders as “irresponsible.” Some of her husband’s comrades told her that he had died heroically, she wrote, but the military has not confirmed his death and there is no body.
“Where are the specifics?” she wrote. “Why is the command ignoring us, avoiding answers, throwing us from one number to another? My heart breaks with pain and anger for what they have done to our family.”
Some families go even more public.
Relatives of missing soldiers from the 25th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade from the Leningrad region have made repeated appeals to Mr. Putin.
“Everywhere we encounter indifference!” they said in a video last month showing pictures of the missing. Every family receives exactly the same form letter and is just told, repeatedly, to wait, they said, “Help us! We are tired of living in ignorance for months and years!”
The Kremlin established the Defenders of the Fatherland State Foundation, ostensibly to help soldiers, veterans and their families. But it has no inside track on details about the missing, analysts said.
There is “no system of liaison with the soldiers’ families,” said Sergei Krivenko, the director of a human rights organization formed to help soldiers. He called the Fatherland Foundation a “fake structure,” designed to deflect blame from the defense ministry and “to give a semblance of action.”
The Fatherland Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.
Ms. Kaipova has written to numerous officials starting with Mr. Putin, visited his administrative office and searched through multiple hospitals, including some amid the fighting in eastern Ukraine. “I run in circles,” she said.
Her quest took a not uncommon turn when she thought she recognized Rafael with a grievous head wound in a short video clip filmed aboard an evacuation helicopter. She is convinced he is lying in a hospital somewhere afflicted with amnesia.
The administrator of one chat group where she posted the video said at least 20 other people identified the same man as their missing soldier.
“Everyone is so desperate that they see their loved ones in any face,” Ms. Kaipova conceded, but dismissed any suggestion that this might be the case for her as well. Her son’s unit said its medics have no record of evacuating him.
Rafael was a reluctant soldier. Raised in the central city of Tyumen, he seriously injured another man who tried to take his car. Officials presented him with a common choice in Russian criminal cases: Go to jail or to the front. His mother begged him to chose jail, but he recoiled. “He was in agony, pacing,” she said. “He did not want war or prison.”
He deployed last Aug. 1, his 20th birthday. She never heard from him again. A hospitalized soldier from his unit once called to tell her that Rafael had cried out for his mother in fear at the start of his first battle.
She learned from Form 1421, the terse military record of his disappearance, that he served with an intelligence unit. Rafael was among a group of soldiers carrying out “special tasks” in a Donetsk province village, it said, when they came under fire from artillery and drones. “The group, which included Rafael Kaipov, lost contact after this engagement.”
Under new laws, commanding officers can go to court just six months after the last contact with a soldier to have him declared missing, allowing them to halt his combat pay.
The families themselves have to file an additional case to have the missing soldier declared dead, which releases hefty benefits. Some shun such a definitive step.
“I cry constantly, morning and night,” Ms. Kaipova said. “My biggest fear is that I will exhaust every lead and have no one left to turn to.”
Oleg Matsnev contributed reporting.
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Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero fight results, highlights: 'Rolly' scores massive upset, outpoints 'King Ry' – CBS Sports
Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero fight results, highlights: 'Rolly' scores massive upset, outpoints 'King Ry' – CBS Sports
Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero fight results, highlights: ‘Rolly’ scores massive upset, outpoints ‘King Ry’ CBS SportsRomero disrupts Garcia’s plans in massive upset ESPNRyan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero predictions, odds, picks: Who comes out on top in Times Square triple-header? Yahoo SportsWhat time is Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero boxing match? Ring walk time for fight USA TodayDe La Hoya: ‘No Need To Get Into Politics,’ He, Holly Sonders Promote First Of Its Kind Ryan Garcia Fight OutKick
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Federal election 2025: Resources Minister Madeleine King and WA Premier Roger Cook make last pitch to voters
Federal election 2025: Resources Minister Madeleine King and WA Premier Roger Cook make last pitch to voters
Resources Minister Madeleine King and Premier Roger Cook have made their last pitch to voters on election morning, urging West Aussies to make the choice that keeps the country moving forward.
Hitting up a polling booth at Wellard Primary School, in Ms King’s Federal electorate of Brand and Mr Cook’s State seat of Kwinana, the pair were all smiles as they chatted to voters, volunteers and took a few selfies with locals.
Brand is a very safe Labor seat with a 17.1 per cent margin, making it almost a sure thing for Ms King, who has held the seat for nine years.
The Premier sung his Federal counterpart’s praises, saying he was “really proud” to have “another member of the great local community” in Ms King.
“She’s a great voice. She works hard every day for the community in Canberra and is a great and powerful voice in the Albanese Labor Government,” Mr Cook said.
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Sticking to Labor’s well-worn campaign lines, Ms King said West Aussies “face a clear choice” in this election.
“A choice between the Albanese Labor Government, who wants to build Australia’s future, or Peter Dutton’s volatile Liberal Party and National Coalition that will simply cut and cut and cut,” she said.
“Today, Western Australians have a chance to support an Albanese Labor Government that will deliver the services we know they need and they want, like a really strong Medicare, but also investing in the mining and resources sector, and investing in the services that all West Australians need and rely upon.”
The Brand MP said that she and her colleagues “have invested in Western Australia, have invested in Australia and believe in Australians”.
“And there will be no deals in a ********* government, should that be the case. But I am going for that majority government, just like the Prime Minister is,” she said.
Faced with a growing trend of younger voters turning away from the major political parties, Ms King said that she remained “very optimistic that young people in Australia will support the Albanese Government”.
“Every voter has a choice when they go into that ballot box,” she said.
“Vote for a stable leader, thoughtful leader, Anthony Albanese, and put him against the volatile and often angry Peter Dutton, who has no vision for the future of this country.”
Mr Cook backed in Ms King, saying West Australians should not take the “risk” of a Coalition government.
“Albo is a friend of WA,” he said. “He’s come to Western Australia more times than the last four prime ministers combined.
“His Cabinet has come to Western Australia on repeated occasions.
“The fact is the Albanese Labor Government gets WA. And I need a strong partner in Canberra to make sure that we can continue to take this State forward.”
Camera IconWA Premier Roger Cook at Wellard Primary School. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The Sunday Times
Mr Cook also took the opportunity to remind voters about the GST deal, which he said could put West Aussies in a precarious situation if Mr Dutton becomes prime minister.
“And don’t forget, Peter Dutton didn’t back our fair share of the GST for all Western Australians — that should send a chill up your spine,” he said.
“The Liberals will rip literally billions out of the Western *********** economy.”
But the Premier conceded that should Mr Dutton take the reins, the State Government would work with him to continue taking WA forward.
“Western Australia is the engine room of the national economy. So if Peter Dutton wants to continue to take this country forward, he has to work with us and we will work with him,” Mr Cook said.
“But I need a trusted partner in Canberra and that trusted partner is Anthony Albanese.”
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Churchill Downs Makes Disappointing Announcement Before Kentucky Derby
Churchill Downs Makes Disappointing Announcement Before Kentucky Derby
The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, May 3 with famed horse trainer Bob Baffert making his return from a three-year suspension after his horse Medina Spirit won the Derby in 2021 but failed a drug test.
Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen made it clear Baffert would be welcomed back this year along with his horses, Rodriguez and the juvenile champion, Citizen Bull. “Bob earned his way into this event. He earned his way into this race,” Carstanjen told CNBC. “He’s welcomed back. This is America. Everybody gets second chances.”
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Baffert’s return isn’t the only thing of note ahead of the Kentucky Derby this year, though. Late last month Carstanjen revealed the nearly $1 billion renovation project at the Louisville track was placed on pause amid inflation and ongoing global trade disputes as a result of tariffs handed down by the United States.
“A lot has changed in the world in the past nine weeks since that (February announcement), including increased general economic uncertainty and risk of significant inflation, driven in part by the new tariffs that the U.S. intends to charge on products from almost every country in the world,” Carstanjen said, via the Courier Journal. “This has created unanticipated and currently unquantifiable expected cost increases in most materials.”
With the main project on pause, Churchill Downs still plans a less costly project of around $30 million to update areas like The Mansion, the Finish Line Suites and the Trophy Room.
Carstanjen made it clear the $1 billion renovation is still planned, but will remained on pause for the rest of the year.
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“We will use the coming months to assess the evolving economic conditions as well as to evaluate any changes that we want to make to the timing and sequencing,” Carstanjen said. “This is an opportunity to revisit and to make sure we deliver products that best meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”
The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is set for approximately 6:57 p.m. ET on May 3.
Related: Coca-Cola Makes Big Announcement After Pepsi’s Bad News
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Google is going to let kids use its Gemini AI – The Verge
Google is going to let kids use its Gemini AI – The Verge
Google is going to let kids use its Gemini AI The VergeGoogle Plans to Roll Out Gemini A.I. Chatbot to Children Under 13 The New York TimesGemini for kids is rolling out, and it comes with 3 warnings from Google ZDNETMy son is going to be so excited that Gemini will soon be available on his phone Chrome UnboxedGoogle will soon start letting kids under 13 use its Gemini chatbot TechCrunch
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No llama drama, as *********** alpacas pack a punch
No llama drama, as *********** alpacas pack a punch
Forget cake, Marie Antoinette is perfectly content grazing pasture.
She’s a queen among the herd of 150 alpacas at Forestglen Alpaca Stud on the picturesque plains of Millthorpe in central western NSW.
Nearby is Goodness Gracious, a newborn named for the surprising splashes of chocolate brown and white on her fleece.
Remy roams with Rock ‘n’ Roll, Momo and Antarctica, while Talk To Me has just given birth to a snowy white girl called Rumour Has It.
The curious creatures appear to kiss their young and affectionately nuzzle each other on their long necks while quietly feeding in the afternoon sun.
The stud, managed by Jennie Carey and her daughter Alexandra Staples, was established in the early 1990s, soon after Australia’s first flocks of alpacas were imported from South America.
Ms Carey’s mother Maureen began alpaca showing and breeding after spotting the exotic animals at a field day.
She was besotted with their “big beautiful eyes” and adorable babies, Ms Carey told AAP.
“It was love at first sight and the love affair has never really finished,” she said.
The *********** Alpaca Association, which represents more than 1000 breeders, is hoping the nation’s consumers will be wooed by the woolly animals too.
The industry is celebrating its 35th year with National Alpaca Week from May 10, complete with a campaign encouraging people to buy products made from the unique fleece.
The association’s president Brett Fallon, who operates a stud in Albany, WA, said alpaca fibre has many appealing qualities.
“It’s very warm … it has a silky feel to it and a natural lustre that is hard to replicate,” Mr Fallon said.
Australia’s alpaca industry was identified by research and development body AgriFutures as an emerging market in 2023.
With demand for quality and luxurious fibres here and overseas, the industry has enormous potential to grow, its report said.
The association is working to educate and support small-scale farmers to harvest fleece in a bid to bolster the market.
Some farmers may only keep a few alpacas – sometimes as pets or as guard animals for other stock – but there is still money to be made in the fibre.
“When it starts to scale up, that’s when you start to get better returns,” Mr Fallon said.
Bags of fleece line the shed walls at Forestglen, along with racks of show ribbons.
The stud’s fleece has won supreme champion at the Sydney Royal Easter Show eight times.
“Because it lacks the lanolin that sheep wool has, it has a magical feel,” Ms Carey said.
It’s not just the fleece that’s magic.
Alpacas are known to be easier on the land than cattle and sheep, allowing pastures to bounce back from grazing and drought.
And with their hooting call, they can expertly ward off foxes trying to prey on new lambs.
Forestglen has sold about 900 alpacas to farmers who use them as guardians.
Ms Carey trains the alpacas to respond to clapping, which also helps farmers herd sheep.
“They’re the leaders, they’re the bosses, they must be obeyed,” she said.
But ignore the stereotypes about spitting, cranky alpacas.
They are, after all, “great big puffballs”, Ms Carey said.
“I find them to be quite gentle.”
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Alleged Minneapolis gunman shot 5 in head, has links to Native Mob: Charges
Alleged Minneapolis gunman shot 5 in head, has links to Native Mob: Charges
The Brief
James Duane Ortley, 34, is facing charges of second-degree ******* and attempted second-degree ******* in connection to the mass shooting in Minneapolis on April 29.
Court documents allege Ortley and some of his family have ties to the Native Mob.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Court records indicate the alleged gunman in the Minneapolis mass shooting was a member of the Native Mob and fired while sitting in the car with the victims, shooting all five in the head.
An arrest warrant unsealed on Friday indicates 34-year-old James Duane Ortley is facing three counts of second-degree *******, two counts of attempted second-degree *******, and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said an additional second-degree ******* charge will be added since a fourth victim died on Thursday.
Prosecutors filed a request on April 30 to seal the warrant until after it was executed, citing concerns that, “This case involves a gang-related execution shooting of five people…the presumptive sentence in this case will be extremely high, and the risks to witnesses and law enforcement, should Defendant know of this complaint, would include greatly.”
The U.S. Marshals North Start Fugitive Task Force and the FBI SWAT Team executed a search warrant on Thursday around 3:40 p.m. on the1600 block of South 4th Street, and took Ortley into custody.
Details of mass shooting
What we know
Just before midnight on Tuesday, police responded to a shooting along 25th Street near Bloomington Avenue. At the scene, officers found five victims – two men, two women, and a teen boy – inside a vehicle who had all been shot in the head.
One of the victims told police there was a single shooter, identified as “Little James”, “Baby J” and “Little J.” The woman claims “Little James” was sitting in the rear-passenger seat and shot everyone inside before leaving the scene, the document claims.
Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, including a 27-year-old man, a 20-year-old woman, and a 17-year-old boy, police previously said. A 28-year-old man was transported to the hospital for a serious brain injury, and authorities said he has since died from his injuries.
The woman sustained a “serious gunshot wound to [her] face” and was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment. Her current condition is unknown.
Ties to the mob
Dig deeper
The arrest warrant alleges Ortley and some of his family members are associated with the Native Mob – a criminal street gang which operates in south Minneapolis and other areas of the state.
READ MORE:Minneapolis homicides: Shootings connected to gang violence within Native community
Court documents also indicate Ortley allegedly admitted that his street name was “Baby James” during an October 2023 interview with authorities for a separate ********* investigation.
What we don’t know
The arrest warrant does not indicate a motive for the shooting, but one of the victim’s family members told police he was a “close family friend.”
First court appearance
What’s next
Ortley was taken into custody on Thursday and is scheduled to make his first appearance in Hennepin County court on Monday.
He has a previous conviction of second-degree assault, which prohibits him from possessing a firearm.
What they’re saying
“This was a shocking spree of violence that tore at the fabric of our community,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “Families have lost loved ones, and our neighbors will carry the scars of this violence, emotionally and physically, for the rest of their lives. I am grateful to the MPD investigators who worked tirelessly, in collaboration with our staff, to quickly bring this case against Mr. Ortley. We are committed to using every resource available to us to ensure that our community is protected from further violence.”
The Source
Previous FOX 9 reporting and an arrest warrant filed in Hennepin County court.
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Army Plans a Big Parade That Could Fall on Trump’s Birthday – The New York Times
Army Plans a Big Parade That Could Fall on Trump’s Birthday – The New York Times
Army Plans a Big Parade That Could Fall on Trump’s Birthday The New York TimesMilitary parade to honour US Army will fall on Trump’s birthday BBCVeterans’ Groups Object to Trump’s Proposal to Rename Veterans Day The New York TimesTrump to mark Army’s birthday, and his, with parade of 6,600 soldiers The Washington PostTrump says he wants to rename Veterans Day to ‘Victory Day for World War I’ ABC7 Los Angeles
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Premier Roger Cook has not heard anything official about Perth-based NRL team
Premier Roger Cook has not heard anything official about Perth-based NRL team
Premier Roger Cook has yet to hear anything official from the *********** Rugby League Commission after a meeting of NRL club chief executives in Brisbane yesterday.
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Dig in Spanish former fish market reveals medieval maritime treasure
Dig in Spanish former fish market reveals medieval maritime treasure
By Nacho Doce
BARCELONA (Reuters) -Archaeologists digging up a former fish market in Barcelona in northeast Spain have discovered the wreck of a ship that may have sunk about 500 years ago.
The team came across the ruined stern of a large vessel that could have sunk in the 15th or 16th centuries.
A large fragment of the boat, 10 metres long and three metres wide and crossed by more than 30 curved wooden ribs, was found in good condition at a depth of five metres below sea level.
“It is of great importance because it is unusual to find underwater archaeological remains and when we do the studies on the keel and wood, etcetera, more details will be known,” said Santiago Palacios Nieto, 30, director of the archaeological team, told Reuters.
“What we’ve found is a fragment of a ship, likely of Mediterranean-style construction, but with Atlantic influences —probably from the Basque Country or Galicia.”
The timbers of the vessel had been preserved by the damp sand that covered it. The team must now ensure the wreck is preserved from drying out, so it has to be watered night and day.
(Reporting by Graham Keeley, Alejandra Angulo Alonso, Nacho Doce; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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Power returns after outage in Indonesia’s Bali
Power returns after outage in Indonesia’s Bali
Power on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali has been fully restored, after an hours-long blackout .
Darmawan Prasodjo, president director of state electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), said early indications were that a disruption in subsea cables was the cause of outage.
A power outage hit a number of regions of Bali from 4pm on Friday, said state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara.
The island’s airport was also impacted but inbound and outbound flight traffic continued using backup generators, the airport’s general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said in a statement, although several departures had experienced delays.
Images shared on social media showed road traffic holdups in Bali as a result of the outage and long lines at the airport check-in counters.
Power began to return a few hours after the blackout.
“State utility PLN managed to restore most of the electricity supply in Bali,” the spokesperson of President Prabowo Subianto, Prasetyo Hadi said in a statement after calling PLN’s CEO.
“God willing, power connection in Bali will be fully restored tonight (Friday night),” he said.
PLN prioritised restoring electricity to key infrastructure such as government offices, hospitals, the airport, as well as hotels, said Prasetyo.
Bali is Indonesia’s main tourist hotspot, with 6.3 million foreign visitors in 2024 according to the island’s statistics bureau.
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