Kansas fraudster who took money for concrete work in Topeka will go to prison
Kansas fraudster who took money for concrete work in Topeka will go to prison
A Kansas man who defrauded multiple Topeka and Shawnee County residents of money for concrete work he never did is headed to prison.
Terry Lee Clay, age 47, of Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced to about two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office announced Friday.
“This case should serve as a warning to would-be fraudsters,” said assistant attorney general Rebecca Silvermintz, who prosecuted the case in Shawnee County District Court. “The Kansas Attorney General’s Office will vigorously prosecute those who prey on Kansas consumers in order to make a quick buck.”
A man who defrauded multiple Topekans is headed to prison.
The attorney general’s office said Clay “submitted bids and collected deposits from a number of individuals for concrete work that he never did. He did not provide refunds of the deposit money.”
“Bank records revealed that Clay did not use deposit money from consumers to purchase building materials,” the attorney general’s office said in a news release. “Despite a Consumer Protection Order, which ordered him to stop accepting bids for services in 2021, Clay continued to engage in door-to-door sales.”
Shawnee County District Court records show a default judgment was entered against Clay in 2021.
Clay was initially charged in October 2023 with multiple counts of felony and misdemeanor theft and violating a consumer protection order. He ultimately pleaded guilty in December 2024 to two three felonies: two counts of mistreatment of an elder person and one count of violation of a consumer protection order.
Clay was sentenced Feb. 7 to 29 months in prison on the first charge, 12 months on the second and six months on the third. All sentences will run concurrently, so the total time is 29 months, or about two and a half years.
More: How a Topeka man allegedly used deed fraud to take vacant lot from landowner
Court records alleged multiple people in Shawnee County were defrauded between April 2019 and September 2021. Clay was ordered to pay about $154,000 in total restitution, split among eight separate individuals or families.
Clay wrote a letter to the court asking for probation.
“The reason I believe probation would be the best case scenario for my case is the victims are wanting their money as quickly as possible,” Clay wrote. “I agree with that. I accept the plea and admitted to my wrong doing not wanting to waste any more time for anyone.”
He said he continued to work construction jobs, and losing those jobs would mean losing “the ability to make restitution to the victims,” while probation would mean, “I can continue to keep working and can begin making sizable payments.”
The attorney general’s office opposed the request, and Judge Jason Geier denied the request for a departure from a presumptive prison sentence.
Silvermintz described Clay’s letter as “empty promises” and argued that prison and likely garnishment of wages in the future is appropriate. She said Clay undermined his own argument by never making payments toward the restitution in the civil case.
The default judgment in the civil case totals about $774,000, of which about $153,000 was restitution.
“The crux of the Defendant’s argument for a departure to probation in this case is based on being able to keep his job in order to pay back the agreed-upon restitution amount,” Silvermintz wrote. “But the Defendant has shown by his inactions that he has no interest in paying back the restitution because a court has already ordered him to pay restitution to the same victims and he has not paid a dime in almost four years.
“Additionally, throughout the pendency of this case, the Defendant has gone through multiple jobs, which should concern all parties about the likelihood about this specific job being the one to finally stick.”
Silvermintz also argued that Clay has shown, “He cannot follow orders,” because he “continued to engage in door-to-door sales after being ordered not to.”
Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at *****@*****.tld. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas attorney general says man defrauded Topekans in concrete jobs
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US asks Europeans for contributions to Ukraine guarantees – Reuters
US asks Europeans for contributions to Ukraine guarantees – Reuters
US asks Europeans for contributions to Ukraine guarantees ReutersUS demands Europe sets out arms and troops support for postwar Ukraine Financial TimesStubb: US gave Europe ‘questionnaire’ on Ukraine security guarantees EuronewsUS to mediate Russia, Ukraine peace talks without Europe — but demands plans on post-war support New York Post US has asked Europe to prepare proposals for security guarantees for Ukraine, FT says Ukrainska Pravda
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‘They were ordered to take their backpacks and leave’
‘They were ordered to take their backpacks and leave’
Nafiseh Kohnavard
Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service
Reporting fromReporting from SyriaBBC
After years of military expansion, everything Iran was trying to build in Syria is in ruins
Mouldy half-finished food on bunk beds, discarded military uniforms and abandoned weapons – these are the remnants of an abrupt retreat from this base that once belonged to Iran and its affiliated groups in Syria.
The scene tells a story of panic. The forces stationed here fled with little warning, leaving behind a decade-long presence that unravelled in mere weeks.
Iran was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most critical ally for more than 10 years. It deployed military advisers, mobilised foreign militias, and invested heavily in Syria’s war.
Its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) built deep networks of underground bases, supplying arms and training to thousands of fighters. For Iran, this was also part of its “security belt” against Israel.
We are near Khan Shaykhun town in Idlib province. Before Assad’s regime fell on 8 December, it was one of the key strategic locations for the IRGC and its allied groups.
From the main road, the entrance is barely visible, hidden behind piles of sand and rocks. A watchtower on a hilltop, still painted in the colours of the Iranian flag, overlooks the base.
This Iranian base was built deep inside rocky hills
A receipt notebook confirms the base’s name: The Position of Martyr Zahedi – named after Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top IRGC commander who was assassinated in an alleged Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Syria on 1 April, 2024.
The supplies recently ordered – we found receipts for chocolates, rice, cooking oil – suggest daily life continued here until the last moments. But now the base has new occupants – two armed Uyghur fighters from Hayaat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist militant group whose leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has become the new interim president of Syria.
Forces left behind documents with sensitive information
The Uyghurs arrived suddenly in a military vehicle, asking for our media accreditation.
“Iranians were here. They all fled,” one of them says, speaking in his mother tongue, a dialect of Turkish. “Whatever you see here is from them. Even these onions and the leftover foods.”
Boxes full of fresh onions in the courtyard have now germinated.
The base is a labyrinth of tunnels dug deep into white rocky hills. There are bunk beds in some rooms with no windows. The roof of one of the corridors is draped in fabric in the colours of the Iranian flag and there are a few Persian books on a rocky shelf.
Forces had to leave in a rush, taking off their uniforms and fleeing
They left behind documents containing sensitive information. All in Persian, they have details of fighters’ personal information, military personnel codes, home addresses, spouses’ names and mobile phone numbers in Iran. From the names, it’s clear that several fighters in this base were from the Afghan brigade that was formed by Iran to fight in Syria.
Sources linked to Iran-backed groups told BBC Persian that the base houses mainly Afghan forces accompanied by Iranian “military advisers” and their Iranian commanders.
Tehran’s main justification for its military involvement in Syria was “to fight against jihadi groups” and to protect “Shia holy shrines” against radical Sunni militants.
It created paramilitary groups of mainly Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi fighters.
Yet, when the final moment came, Iran was unprepared. Orders for retreat reached some bases at the very last moment. “Developments happened so fast,” a senior member of an Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary group tells me. “The order was to just take your backpack and leave.”
Multiple sources close to the IRGC told the BBC that most of the forces had to flee to Iraq, and some were ordered to go to Lebanon or Russian bases to be evacuated from Syria by the Russians.
An HTS fighter, Mohammad al Rabbat, had witnessed the group’s advance from Idlib to Aleppo and Syria’s capital Damascus.
Mohammad al-Rabbat witnessed his group’s advance from Idlib to Aleppo and Damascus
He says they thought their operation would take “about a year” and best, they’d “capture Aleppo in three to six months”. But to their surprise, they entered Aleppo in a matter of days.
The regime’s rapid downfall was brought about by a chain of events after ******’s 7 October attack on Israel.
That attack led to an escalation of Israeli air strikes against the IRGC and Iran-backed groups in Syria and a war against another key Iranian ally – the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, whose leader was killed in an air strike.
This “situation of psychological collapse” for Iran and Hezbollah was central to their downfall, says 35-year-old fighter Rabbat.
But the most crucial blow came from within: there was a rift between Assad and his Iran-linked allies, he says.
“There was a complete breakdown of trust and military co-operation between them. IRGC-linked groups were blaming Assad of betrayal and believing that he is giving up their locations to Israel.”
As we pass through Khan Shaykhun, we come across a street painted in the colours of the Iranian flag. It leads to a school building that was being used as an Iranian headquarters.
A street in a part of Khan Shaykhun painted in Iranian flag colours
On the wall at the entrance of the toilets, slogans read: “Down with Israel” and “Down with the USA”.
It was evident that these headquarters were also evacuated at short notice. We found documents classified as “highly sensitive”.
Abdullah, 65, and his family are among the very few locals who stayed and lived here alongside the IRGC-led groups. He says this life was hard.
His house is only a few metres away from the headquarters and in between, there are deep trenches with barbed wire.
“Movement at night was prohibited,” he says.
Abdullah says the presence of Iran-backed groups in the neighbourhood made life difficult
His neighbour’s home was turned into a military post. “They sat there with their guns pointing at the road, treating us all as suspects,” he recalls.
Most of the fighters didn’t even speak Arabic, he says. “They were Afghans, Iranians, Hezbollah. But we referred to them all as Iranians because Iran was controlling them.”
Abdullah’s wife Jourieh says she is happy that the “Iranian militias” have left, but still remembers the “stressful” moment before their withdrawal. She had thought they would be trapped in crossfire as Iran-backed groups were fortifying their positions and getting ready to fight, but then “they just vanished in a few hours”.
“This was an occupation. Iranian occupation,” says Abdo who, like others, has just returned here with his family after 10 years. His house had also become a military base.
I observed this anger towards Iran and a softer attitude towards Russia in many conversations with Syrians.
I asked Rabbat, the HTS fighter, why this was.
“Russians were dropping bombs from the sky and other than that, they were in their bases while Iranians and their militias were on the ground interacting. People were feeling their presence, and many weren’t happy with it,” he explained.
This feeling is reflected in Syria’s new rulers’ policy towards Iran.
The new authorities have put a ban on Iranian nationals, alongside Israelis, entering Syria. But there is no such ban against Russians.
Syria’s new leader has condemned Iran’s role in the country
Iran’s embassy, which was stormed by angry protesters after the fall of the regime, remains closed.
The reaction of Iranian officials towards developments in Syria has been contradictory.
While supreme leader Ali Khamenei called on “Syrian youths” to “resist” those who “have brought instability” to Syria, Iran’s foreign ministry has taken a more balanced view.
It says the country “backs any government supported by the Syrian people”.
In one of his first interviews, Syria’s new leader Sharaa described their victory over Assad as an “end of the Iranian project”. But he hasn’t ruled out having a “balanced” relationship with Tehran.
For the moment, though, Iran is not welcome in Syria. After years of expanding its military presence, everything Tehran built is now in ruins, both on the battlefield and, it seems, in the eyes of a large part of Syria’s public.
Back at the abandoned base, Iran’s military expansion was still under way even in the last days. Next to the camp were more tunnels under construction, apparently the beginnings of a field hospital. The cement on the walls was still wet and the paint fresh.
But left behind now is evidence of a brief fight – a few bullet shells and a military uniform covered with blood.
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Champion’s Trophy Ultimate Guide: Why Australia are up against it and who could spring a surprise
Champion’s Trophy Ultimate Guide: Why Australia are up against it and who could spring a surprise
Can Australia get through with a depleted group, who are the players to watch out for and which team looms as the tournament’s dark horse as we look through every Champion’s Trophy sqaud?
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Lawmakers Just Proposed Making It ******** For Men To Have Unprotected Sex Unless They Intend To Make A Baby, And YES, This Is REAL
Lawmakers Just Proposed Making It ******** For Men To Have Unprotected Sex Unless They Intend To Make A Baby, And YES, This Is REAL
It’s a ballsy move, but two Ohio State Representatives have introduced a bill that would make it ******** for men to have unprotected sex if it’s not intended to make a baby.
If the “Conception Begins at ********* Act” passes, men in Ohio could be charged with a felony if they “discharge genetic material” without intending to get a woman pregnant.
Greggory Disalvo / Getty Images
A Capitol Police car parked in front of the United States Capitol
However, the bill does provide exceptions if the male partner uses protection or contraception, masturbates on their own, donates ******, or is a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Think it sounds nutty? You’ll get no arguments from Rep. Anita Somani, who co-sponsored the bill with fellow Democrat Tristan Rader.
In an editorial for the Columbus Dispatch, Somani, a gynecologist, admitted she knows “how ludicrous my sounds” but said that was the point.
“Is my bill offensive because it dares to attack men? Maybe, but again, as an OB/GYN, I’m against regulating anyone’s reproductive rights,” she said. Those decisions, she argued, ”should be between the patient and the physician without criminal penalties being built into bills conservative organizations are promoting across the country.”
HuffPost has reached out to Somani for details on the bill.
In an interview with CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO, Somani said there’s no doubt about the damage restrictive abortion laws have had on women.
“What other right do you know of where women have different rights based on where they live versus men?” she asked. “If I live in a state that protects reproductive rights, I have more rights than somebody who lives in a state where reproductive rights have been restricted.”
Nurphoto / NurPhoto via Getty Images
“Men can go to any state in the United States and have the same rights no matter where they are,” Somani added.
Somani and Rader’s bill is similar to another bill with the same name recently introduced in the Mississippi legislature.
Under the provisions of that proposed bill, violators wouldn’t face jail time but would pay $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for three or more offenses. Somani told WOIO that her bill would make ************ a felony, which underscores the point she’s trying to make by introducing it.
“We shouldn’t be penalizing reproductive care for anybody, and that, again, is why we have the felony piece of this bill,” Somani said.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost
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US goverment seeks to rehire recently fired nuclear workers
US goverment seeks to rehire recently fired nuclear workers
The US government is trying to bring back nuclear safety employees it fired on Thursday, but is struggling to let them know they should return to work, NBC News has reported.
The National Nuclear Security Administration workers were among hundreds of employees in the energy department who received termination letters.
An email obtained by NBC said the letters for some NNSA employees “are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel”.
The terminations are part of massive effort by President Donald Trump to slash the ranks of the federal workforce, a project he began on his first day in office, less than a month ago.
Last week, nearly 10,000 federal workers were let go, according to multiple US outlets.
That figure was in addition to the estimated 75,000 workers who have accepted an offer from the White House to leave voluntarily in the fall.
The nuclear security officials who were laid off on Thursday helped oversee the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons. That included staff who are stationed at facilities where the weapons are built, according to CNN.
Attempting to reach the workers, the email, which was sent to current employees, said: “Please work with your supervisors to send this information (once you get it) to people’s personal contact emails.”
Trump is working to slash spending across the board, abroad and at home, and going so far as to call for eliminating the education department. He is getting help from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who, through an effort called Doge for Department of Government Efficiency, has sent workers to comb through data at federal agencies and helped implement the “buyout” offer.
Last week, the Trump administration ordered agencies to fire nearly all probationary employees, those who had generally been in their positions for less than a year and not yet earned job protection. That included the NNSA staff members.
Altogether, the move could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of people.
Several of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the government’s size and spending have been met with legal challenges.
More than 60 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration since the president was inaugurated on 20 January.
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Disgraced former Perth MP Barry Urban dead, three months after attack
Disgraced former Perth MP Barry Urban dead, three months after attack
Barry Urban has died in hospital three months after he was allegedly attacked outside a Kelmscott tyre business.
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Major storm in the east bringing snow, ice, flooding rain, severe thunderstorms
Major storm in the east bringing snow, ice, flooding rain, severe thunderstorms
A large storm is bringing a range of weather hazards from the south and east this weekend.
There’s an enhanced risk for severe storms on Saturday stretching from Memphis, Tennessee, to Mobile, Alabama, with most of the action expected late this afternoon into the evening.
PHOTO: weather graphic (ABC News)
Storms with damaging winds and flash flooding are the main threats, but there could also be a few tornadoes. Residents are urged to pay attention to severe weather warnings overnight, as the tornado risk continues into nighttime.
PHOTO: weather graphic (ABC News)
PHOTO: A car submerged on Jackson Bridge Road in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Feb. 15, 2025. (Courtesy Brittnay Dorris)
In addition to thunderstorms, the flash flood threat is not to be taken lightly with this system. By Saturday afternoon, there have already been numerous Flash Flood Warnings stretching across parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina.
PHOTO: Flooding on Mary Road in Campton, Kentucky, on Feb. 15, 2025. (Courtesy Rebecca Miller Spencer/Facebook)
Snow and ice in the Northeast
Snow has moved into portions of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Saturday afternoon, and conditions are expected to deteriorate as snow picks up and the sun goes down.
This is not just a pure snowstorm, there will be a changeover to sleet and rain as this system moves through the northeast into Sunday.
Snow will likely be falling across much of the I-95 corridor from the NYC area to Boston by 6 p.m. on Saturday.
PHOTO: A man walks along a path in Overpeck County Park as snow falls in Leonia, NJ, Feb. 15, 2025. (Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com via USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
At the same time, some areas that had been seeing snow will be switching over to sleet and rain, creating slushy conditions and hazardous travel.
By 10 p.m., warmer air continues to surge northward, causing New York City to switch over to sleet and then rain.
By 3 a.m. on Sunday, the northeast radar begins to resemble Neapolitan ice cream, with layers of snow, ice, and rain across New England.
Snow totals could be topping a foot across parts of central and northern New England and northern New York State. For cities like Hartford and Boston, a slushy 3”-6” is likely before rain comes in and compacts that snow a bit.
PHOTO: weather graphic (ABC News)
86 million under wind alerts
High wind alerts are in effect for more than 86 million people across 22 states for Sunday and Monday.
As the major winter storm moves out, wind gusts could reach 50 to 60 mph across parts of the south into the northeast.
Major storm in the east bringing snow, ice, flooding rain, severe thunderstorms originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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US goverment seeks to rehire recently fired nuclear workers – BBC.com
US goverment seeks to rehire recently fired nuclear workers – BBC.com
US goverment seeks to rehire recently fired nuclear workers BBC.comDismissed Nuclear Bomb Specialists Recalled by Energy Department BloombergEnergy Department scrambles to rehire nuclear bomb experts fired in major DOGE ****** up: Reports The Independent
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Rubio to meet with Russian officials to discuss Ukraine peace negotiations
Rubio to meet with Russian officials to discuss Ukraine peace negotiations
A team of President Trump’s advisers are expected to meet with Russian officials next week to begin peace negotiations over the war in Ukraine, two U.S. government officials familiar with the details told CBS News Saturday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will head to Saudi Arabia for the meeting, the official said. The news comes after Mr. Trump disclosed that he held separate phone calls last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It’s unclear if Ukrainian officials will be at the table in Saudi Arabia next week.
Rubio on Saturday spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as a follow up to Mr. Trump’s conversation with Putin, according to State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
“The Secretary re-affirmed President Trump’s commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” Bruce said. “In addition, they discussed the opportunity to potentially work together on a number of other bilateral issues.”
At the Munich Security Conference this week, European officials stressed the need for Ukraine to be part of peace talks to end the war. Vice President JD Vance met with Zelenskyy in Munich Friday, telling him the U.S. wants a “durable, lasting peace,” while Zelensky asked for “security guarantees.”
Zelenskyy told the conference of world leaders that Ukraine would not accept a deal made “behind our backs without our involvement,” and called for the creation of “armed forces of Europe” amid the possibility of a changing relationship between Europe and the U.S.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that “everything is on the table” when it comes to negotiations, but he suggested it was unrealistic for Ukraine to expect NATO membership.
“As far as NATO is concerned, from many years before President Putin, I will tell you that I’ve heard that Russia would never accept that,” Mr. Trump said when asked what Russia should give up in the negotiations. “So that’s the way it is, and I think that’s the way it’s going to have to be.”
Hegseth also cast doubt that Ukraine will be able to return to its pre-2014 borders, when Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
Putin and Mr. Trump are also expected to meet in Saudi Arabia, the president previously said, but it’s unclear when their meeting will take place. A Saudi spokesperson commended the phone call with Putin and the possible summit between the two leaders.
Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman also encouraged the deal between American and Russian officials that led to the return of the American teacher Marc Fogel this week after three-and-a-half years in a Russian prison.
Sara Cook
contributed to this report.
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Arsenal's 'bright spark' – Shearer on teenager Nwaneri
Arsenal's 'bright spark' – Shearer on teenager Nwaneri
Ex-England captain Alan Shearer analyses Arsenal’s 17-year-old winger Ethan Nwaneri as he stars in their 2-0 win over Leicester.
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#Arsenal039s #039bright #spark039 #Shearer #teenager #Nwaneri
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Dutton to ‘reassess’ Rudd if Coalition wins government
Dutton to ‘reassess’ Rudd if Coalition wins government
Peter Dutton has again raised questions about Kevin Rudd’s future as Australia’s US envoy as relations with the Trump White House get off to a rocky start.
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Intel Panther Lake-H CPU hits max turbo power of 64W — mobile chips’ leaked specs point to substantial power draw
Intel Panther Lake-H CPU hits max turbo power of 64W — mobile chips’ leaked specs point to substantial power draw
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Credit: Intel
Hardware leaker Jaykihn has shared what’s believed to be the preliminary power specifications for Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake-H CPUs, which are set to be used later this year in a new slate of laptops and mobile devices, which were previously shown off at CES 2025.
The alleged preliminary spec details three variants of chips within the series, denoting performance, efficiency, and Xe3 cores. These chips are set to be based on Intel’s upcoming Celestial architecture. They will likely materialize as Intel’s Core Ultra 300H series, and the alleged preliminary power specifications allow some speculation about the kinds of devices the company will target.
The first variant shows off a 16-core chip with a 4+8+4 configuration. Assuming this means four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and four GPU cores. This specific configuration will likely reside in systems alongside a dedicated GPU. PL1 (Performance Base Power – PBP) and PL2 (Maximum Turbo Power – MTP) in both baseline and performance power modes will pull 25W and 64W- respectively.
The 4+8+4 configuration has notably fewer efficiency cores than its previous-gen counterparts. The same can be said for the second variant listed, featuring a 24-core configuration split into 4+8+12. This may indicate its suitability for a higher-end device with four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and 12 GPU cores. The PBP is listed at a baseline of 25W, with an MTP of 55W. In the ‘performance’ mode, this changes to 25W and 64W, respectively.
The cTDP Max headroom on both chip configurations lists higher wattages, up to 80W MTP. This might imply that both chips have some headroom built for burst-heavy tasks like rendering. However, they are also set to be more efficient than the Core Ultra 200H series, which could boost into 100W+ territory.
The final listing is for a seemingly lower-end eight-core chip with a configuration of 4+0+4. This will likely be the Core Ultra 300U chip, set to be used in entry-level devices or gaming handhelds. This configuration can run with a PBP of just 15W and an MTP of 44W under the ‘baseline’ power mode, while it boosts up to a similar 25W PBP and 55W MTP under the ‘performance’ mode.
This tells us that Intel is starting to get serious about efficiency in its mobile chips. While AMD has long held the efficiency crown for x86 mobile devices, this initial power spec may be a step in the right direction for Intel. AMD has gained ground on Intel in both the desktop and laptop CPU market, with competition fiercer than ever. Intel’s Panther Lake H CPUs will be produced in volume on the company’s 18A (1.8nm-class) process in 2H 2025. The products are expected to be on shelves in early 2026.
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Scholz blasts Vance’s support for Germany’s far right – The Washington Post
Scholz blasts Vance’s support for Germany’s far right – The Washington Post
Scholz blasts Vance’s support for Germany’s far right The Washington PostUS Vice President JD Vance meets ******* far-right leader as he criticizes ‘firewalls’ in Europe The Associated PressVance Shocks Europe With Support for Far Right, in Message Familiar to U.S. The New York TimesVance brings a wrecking ball to diplomatic gathering in Munich POLITICO Europe
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How EastEnders was created, from the theme tune to ****** and Den
How EastEnders was created, from the theme tune to ****** and Den
Samuel Spencer & Shola Lee
BBC News
BBC
In the early research stages of EastEnders, multiple cities were considered for the new soap, from Manchester to London to Birmingham, according to BBC archive documents.
But one audience report recommended that a serial set in a working-class neighbourhood in London would probably have the most widespread appeal.
This would also set the soap apart from other big series of the time, like Coronation Street (set in Greater Manchester), Emmerdale Farm (set in Yorkshire) and Crossroads (set in a Midlands motel).
The Albert Square set under construction – and how the setting of the show, called East 8 at the time, was described to a focus group
Though EastEnders creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland would eventually settle on the fictional Walford with its E20 postcode, at this point the show had a working title of East 8 – and it was to be based on a real street in the London borough of Hackney.
In March 1984, Smith and Holland headed to Lanzarote for a working holiday where they created 23 character biographies, three years of storyline overviews and 20 detailed story breakdowns.
Despite all their planning, however, some of the most important elements of EastEnders were last-minute accidents, including the iconic drum “doof doofs” in the theme tune, which have since become shorthand for the show’s dramatic cliffhangers.
The cast at a table read in November 1984. By the same time the following year, EastEnders would be one of the biggest shows in the ***
Actors Wendy Richard (right) and Bill Treacher (centre), who played Pauline and Arthur Fowler, rehearsing backstage
“In those days, if a theme tune was popular, you’d often release it as a single. So I would make longer versions of the themes to allow for that,” says Simon May, the theme tune’s composer, who would go on to write EastEnders-related singles for cast members Anita Dobson and Nick Berry.
“The longer version gets a bit more Cockney, so I asked the drummer to play something to transition into the end theme. He played those ‘doof doofs’ and Tony and Julia happened to be in the studio at the time.
“They said: ‘We love that drum thing.'”
Another key ingredient of the early years of EastEnders also happened at the last minute: the pairing of the actors behind ****** and her bad-boy husband Den Watts, played by Leslie Grantham.
Actor Jean Fennell was months away from being ****** Watts
After a read-through of the first six episodes, the producers thought that original ****** Watts actress Jean Fennell was not quite working in the role. Anita Dobson took on the character at the last minute.
Actor and stuntman Derek Martin, who joined the soap 15 years later as Charlie Slater, explains he was also up for the role of Den.
“Leslie got it, and he was very good, he was the ladies’ man, and I was more the hard man,” the 91-year-old actor says.
This pairing of ****** and Den proved popular with the public – and the Christmas Day 1986 episode that sees Den serve ****** divorce papers remains the only scripted programme to have been watched by more than 30 million people in the ***, according to Barb figures.
‘We might have something here’
The first episode of EastEnders was broadcast on 19 February 1985, with 17 million people watching – making it the second most-watched episode on the BBC that week behind The Two Ronnies.
This compared to the 18 million who watched the same week’s Coronation Street.
The episode started with a kick, as Den broke down a door to find the nearly dead body of Reg Cox (played by Johnnie Clayton) – and ended with a punch, as suspect number one in the attack, Nick Cotton (John Altman), put his fist through the glass of the Queen Vic doors.
****** (Anita Dobson) and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) were central to the Christmas 1986 episode, watched by 30 million people
Adam Woodyatt has played Ian Beale since the beginning of the show in 1985
Though the press was quick to set up a rivalry between EastEnders and Coronation Street, the cast had their eye on another ITV soap.
Actor Adam Woodyat, who played Ian Beale in that first episode, says: “We were going out at the same time as Emmerdale Farm at 7pm. It felt like Emmerdale Farm gave us an absolute kicking in the ratings until they shifted us to half past seven.”
Newspapers of the time suggested reactions were mixed. A Sunday People poll of 600 viewers showed 56% of respondents didn’t like the first episode, with complaints over “coarse” and “bawdy” dialogue.
The Guardian, however, was more measured, with their critic Hugh Hebert predicting it would “probably take a year before anyone knows whether the BBC has got it right”.
The show would prove itself earlier than that. On 25 July 1985, the programme was the most-watched on the BBC that week. This coincided with the show’s first blockbuster storyline that saw Michelle (played by Susan Tully) become pregnant by a mystery man, eventually revealed to be Den Watts.
“After the reveal of Den and Michelle,” says Woodyat, “that’s when we started to realise we might have something here.”
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Rwanda rebels advance and Congolese forces retreat
Rwanda rebels advance and Congolese forces retreat
Panic and looting are sweeping through eastern Congo’s second largest city as thousands flee to escape the looming advance of Rwanda-backed rebels.
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Anne Hathaway’s Trainer Says This One-Move Workout Builds Core Strength in Three Minutes
Anne Hathaway’s Trainer Says This One-Move Workout Builds Core Strength in Three Minutes
Since Anne Hathaway’s trainer, Monique Eastwood, shared 10 game-changing insights into Anne’s full workout plan with us, we’ve taken as many tips as we can from Monique’s Instagram page.
Most recently, she shared a three-minute plank challenge from the ‘Monique Eastwood Movement Method’ that she tells IndyBest is ‘an efficient way to work your core’. Using only one exercise, the sequence starts in a high plank and moves into:
Toe taps to knee hovers, with one foot crossed over the other and arms extended: 10 x each side
You begin in a high plank, tapping one foot out to the side while keeping your hips square. Bring your foot back and hook it over the heel of the other foot. Then, bend both knees and hyperextend your arms to push back before returning to a high plank, where you should unhook your foot. That’s one rep. Continue until you reach 10 reps, then switch to the other side.
Monique says the challenge provides ‘an all-over workout,’ adding that by placing one leg on top of the other, ‘the sequence also activates the inner thighs and challenges the core and pelvis, as you only have one stable leg while moving forward and back. The side tap activates the obliques more, as does having to keep your trunk stable as you move the leg out and back.’
But results will only come if you perform the plank with proper form, Monique caveats. She says that most people put too much emphasis on their shoulders, and don’t activate their glutes or legs. You should aim to feel equal effort across your legs, glutes, core and shoulders. Do that, and you’ll build strength and stability in each of those muscle groups – all without any equipment and minimal floor space.
Struggling? Holding a plank for a minute is hard enough, let alone three minutes, so Monique recommends starting with fewer reps. One follower commented on her video: ‘I have tried it. It’s not easy,’ to which Monique advised, ‘Start with less reps and build your endurance slowly.’ Form comes first. A sign you should reduce the number of reps you do is that your shoulders tense up and feel sorer than your core the next day.
You’ll get there.
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EEOC seeks to drop transgender discrimination cases, citing Trump’s executive order – The Associated Press
EEOC seeks to drop transgender discrimination cases, citing Trump’s executive order – The Associated Press
EEOC seeks to drop transgender discrimination cases, citing Trump’s executive order The Associated PressTrump administration moves to drop transgender discrimination cases The Washington PostEEOC Files To Drop Transgender Discrimination Cases ForbesScoop: Trump administration moves to protect businesses accused of anti-trans discrimination Mother Jones
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MOTD analysis: Omar Marmoush – Man City’s Egyptian Prince
MOTD analysis: Omar Marmoush – Man City’s Egyptian Prince
Ex-England captain Alan Shearer analyses Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush’s performance as he scores a first-half hat-trick against Newcastle United.
MATCH REPORT: Marmoush hits quickfire treble as Man City thrash Newcastle
Available to *** users only.
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Peter Dutton to ‘reassess’ Kevin Rudd’s role as US ambassador if elected
Peter Dutton to ‘reassess’ Kevin Rudd’s role as US ambassador if elected
A Coalition Government would “reassess” Kevin Rudd’s status as US ambassador if there are clear issues in Washington, Peter Dutton has revealed.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, the Opposition Leader said while his instinct was to keep Dr Rudd as Australia’s representative in DC, he would make a judgement call if there were “insurmountable” problems.
Dr Rudd’s position as ambassador came into question after Donald Trump’s re-election as US President, forced to delete previous social media posts criticising the Republican.
In 2020, Dr Rudd — Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, and again in 2013 — described Trump as “the most destructive president in history”.
Mr Dutton said Australia needed an ambassador who was in our country’s best interests.
“Kevin, obviously, is an accomplished person as Prime Minister of our country, and if he’s the best person for the job, then he should stay in the job,” Mr Dutton said.
“If it turns out he’s had no access to the White House and no real influence in relation to this issue or whatever the next issue might be, then you would have to reassess his position.
“At the moment, we’re being told that he’s effective in his advocacy of the administration. I suppose time would tell.
“My instinct would be to leave him in the job, but if there are insurmountable problems that he has or that the administration has with him, then that would make it very difficult.”
As Mr Trump pursues global tariffs against steel imports as part of his trade overhaul, pressure has mounted on Dr Rudd to secure an exemption for Australia.
While Mr Albanese has repeatedly expressed support for Dr Rudd, some have call into question whether the former Prime Minister will be able to build a relationship with Mr Trump, who has previously levelled criticism at the ***********.
“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit ******. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb. But I don’t know much about him,” Trump said in 2023.
“He won’t be there long if that’s the case,” Trump added.
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Hiker rescued from Monterey County State Park after becoming hypothermic during storms
Hiker rescued from Monterey County State Park after becoming hypothermic during storms
Braving heavy storms and blustery weather conditions, emergency responders spent nearly 12 hours on a rescue mission in Monterey County on Thursday to save a hiker who became hypothermic while visiting a state park.
At about noon on Feb. 13, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office received an SOS call from a hiker’s GPS device indicating they were hypothermic and needed help.
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team coordinates 12-hour rescue operation during atmospheric river conditions to rescue hiker on Feb. 13, 2025, in Andrew Molera State Park.
The signal was coming from a trail at Andrew Molera State Park, east of Highway 1, according to the sheriff’s office report on the incident.
A multi-agency response team that consisted of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, along with CalFire, Big Sur Fire, Urban Search and State Parks was mobilized.
Rescuers covered 8 miles of very steep and rugged trails reaching 4,000 feet in elevation to reach the hiker.
Extreme weather conditions due to the atmospheric river that was over the region made the rescue mission even more challenging, law enforcement officials said.
“The weather conditions on February 13th, were not favorable for hiking, making this situation dangerous, not only for the public, but for our rescuers as well,” Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said in a statement.
The area was under a winter storm watch with heavy downpours and strong winds resulting in widespread flooding across the Central Coast in parts of Salinas, the Carmel Valley and Watsonville. The National Weather Service had issued a series of flood advisories for the region.
Atmospheric river slams California: L.A. mudslides, landslides mapped and explained
Rescuers located the hiker shortly after 5:30 p.m. and put out a request for assistance from California Highway Patrol’s H-70 helicopter for the return trip.
The helicopter responded but had to turn back due to weather conditions.
Ultimately, the hiker was carried back down the trail and transferred to a waiting ambulance at about 12 p.m. midnight, about 12 hours after the rescue operation began.
The sheriff’s office wants to remind residents and guests of the county to be aware of their abilities when setting out on hikes and to always carry proper supplies, wear appropriate clothing and consider weather conditions.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Rescuers spend 12 hours to save hiker at Monterey County State Park
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2025 Slam Dunk contest predictions, odds, participants: NBA All-Star Saturday picks, bets by proven expert – CBS Sports
2025 Slam Dunk contest predictions, odds, participants: NBA All-Star Saturday picks, bets by proven expert – CBS Sports
2025 Slam Dunk contest predictions, odds, participants: NBA All-Star Saturday picks, bets by proven expert CBS SportsWho’s in NBA Slam Dunk Contest, 3-Point Shootout? Full list of participants at 2025 All-Star Saturday Night CBS SportsNBA ID launches new fan vote for 2025 NBA All-Star NBA.ComMac McClung on winning a 3rd straight AT&T Slam Dunk title: ‘It’d probably be it for me’ Yahoo SportsNBA All-Star Weekend 2025 odds, picks: Renowned NBA expert locks in Slam Dunk Contest bets SportsLine
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EEOC seeks to drop transgender discrimination cases, citing Trump’s executive order
EEOC seeks to drop transgender discrimination cases, citing Trump’s executive order
Signaling a major shift in civil rights enforcement, the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws has moved to dismiss six of its own cases on behalf of workers alleging gender identity discrimination, arguing that the cases now conflict with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, court documents say.
The requests by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mark a major departure from its prior interpretation of civil rights law, and a stark contrast to a decade ago when the agency issued a landmark finding that a transgender civilian employee of the U.S. Army had been discriminated against because her employer refused to use her preferred pronouns or allow her to use bathrooms based on her gender identity.
Just last year, the EEOC updated its guidance to specify that deliberately using the wrong pronouns for an employee, or refusing them access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, constituted a form of harassment. That followed a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that gay, lesbian and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination.
Nearly all workplace discrimination charges must pass through the EEOC — at least initially — and the agency’s decision to drop at least six of the cases raises serious questions about whether its protections will continue to extend to transgender and gender nonconforming people going forward.
The EEOC is seeking to dismiss three cases in Illinois as well as one in Alabama, New York and California. In each instance, the original complaints allege discrimination against transgender or gender nonconforming workers. The agency cites Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order declaring that the government would recognize only two “immutable” sexes — male and female — as the reason for why it no longer intends to pursue the cases.
The Alabama case charged that Harmony Hospitality LLC discriminated against an employee who identifies as a gay nonbinary male by firing him hours after co-owners learned of his gender identity. The New York lawsuit alleged that Boxwood Hotels LLC fired a transgender housekeeper who complained that a supervisor repeatedly misgendered them and made anti-transgender statements, referring to the housekeeper as a “transformer” and “it.”
Another suit alleged that Wendy’s franchisee Starboard Group, Inc. subjected three transgender employees to pervasive ******* harassment at a Wendy’s restaurant in Carbondale, Illinois, claiming a supervisor demanded to know if one employee had a ******. In another Illinois case, a transgender Reggio’s Pizza cashier at Chicago O’Hare International Airport was “outed” by her manager, called a racist, homophobic slur by coworkers, and fired when she complained. In southern Illinois, at a hog farm called Sis-Bro, Inc., a coworker allegedly exposed his genitals to a transgender employee and touched her breasts.
And in Santa Clara, California, the EEOC charged that a Lush Handmade Cosmetics store manager ********* harassed three gender nonconforming employees with “offensive physical and verbal ******* conduct.”
Former EEOC General Counsel and Professor and Co-Dean Emeritus at Rutgers Law School David Lopez, who served in the agency for more than 20 years, on Friday said in his experience, the EEOC has never dismissed cases based on substance rather than merit — until now.
For the country’s anti-discrimination agency “to discriminate against a group, and say, ‘We’re not going to enforce the law on their behalf’ itself is discrimination, in my view,” Lopez said. “It’s like a complete abdication of responsibility.”
The EEOC’s requests to dismiss the cases come just weeks after Trump dismissed two Democratic commissioners of the five-member EEOC before their terms expired, an unprecedented decision that removed what would have been a major obstacle to his administration efforts to upend interpretation of the nation’s civil rights laws. Had the commissioners been allowed to carry out their terms, the EEOC would have had a Democratic majority well into Trump’s term. The administration also fired Karla Gilbride as the EEOC’s general counsel, replacing her with Andrew Rogers as acting counsel.
Shortly after their dismissals, acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, signaled her intent to put the agency’s resources behind enforcing Trump’s executive order on gender. She announced in a statement that one of her priorities would be “defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights.” Later, she ordered that the EEOC would continue accepting any and all discrimination charges filed by workers, although complaints that “implicate” Trump’s order should be elevated to headquarters for “review.”
“Biology is not bigotry. Biological sex is real, and it matters,” Lucas said in her statement. “Sex is binary (male and female) and immutable. It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths — or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly.” She removed the agency’s “pronoun app,” which allowed employees to display their pronouns in their Microsoft 365 profiles, among other changes.
The EEOC in fiscal year 2023 received more than 3,000 charges alleging discrimination based on ******* orientation or gender identity, “the most since the agency started tracking these charges in FY 2013, and up more than 36% from the previous year,” according to the agency’s website, which also provides a link for more information on discrimination based on ******* orientation or gender identity. But the information appears to have been removed and the link now leads to a blank page with the message: “The requested page could not be found.”
Jocelyn Samuels, one of the Democratic EEOC commissioners who was fired last month, said via email that Trump’s executive order and the EEOC’s response to it “is truly regrettable.”
“The Administration’s efforts to erase trans people are deeply harmful to a vulnerable community and inconsistent with governing law,” she said.
Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign, added in an emailed statement: “This is the inevitable outcome when the EEOC is weaponized to greenlight discrimination against American workers.
“Instead of standing up for the rights of everyone to a workplace free from discrimination, including harassment and bias, the Trump administration is making it abundantly clear they will not protect working people.”
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