Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government presented to Parliament on Wednesday an annual budget of $550 billion that calls for ramping up capital spending by 33% to spur economic growth and create jobs ahead of a general election next year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said private investment was rising after the pandemic and the government should focus on driving growth.India’s economy is projected to grow 7% in the fiscal year ending in March. The government forecasts growth of 6%-6.5% next year. But the government is struggling to generate enough jobs for its population of 1.4 billion people.“The budget makes the need once again to ramp up the virtuous cycle of investment and job creation,” Sitharaman said.India's economy surpassed that of the United Kingdom last year to become the world's fifth-largest. Its population is expected to overtake China's in size this year.Despite steady economic growth, the Modi government has struggled to dismiss unemployment concerns and is under pressure to generate enough jobs, especially as it faces key state polls this year and a general election in 2024 which it is still expected to win.According to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, the unemployment rate stood at 8.3% in December, up from 6.5% in January 2022.The government is aiming for a budget deficit of 5.9% of India's gross domestic product (GDP) for the 2023-24 financial year, lower than the 6.4% for this fiscal year.Despite worries that the world economy is headed for a slump, the finance minister she was confident the country's future was bright. “India is on the right track,” she said.Apart from raising capital spending on construction of schools, airports, heliports and other infrastructure to $122 billion, the budget extended a $24 billion scheme to provide free grains to vulnerable households for one year.The government will also increase by 66% its spending on providing affordable housing to the urban poor, Sitharaman said, and prioritize “green growth” with a $4.3 billion investment towards helping India meet its goal of going carbon neutral by 2070.The budget also announced new tax relief measures aimed at bringing some respite for India's large middle class. But it slashed spending by 30% on India's rural jobs program, a boon for the country's most vulnerable, triggering criticism from activists and the opposition.On Wednesday, Modi praised the budget as laying a strong “foundation for the aspirations and resolutions of a developed India," and said the government's investment into infrastructure has increased by more than 400% since 2014 when he first became prime minister.Opposition lawmakers chanted “Adani, Adani” at one point, prompting Sitharaman to pause. Political opponents have urged India's market regulator to investigate India's richest man, Gautam Adani, after a U.S.-based short-seller issued a report last week accusing him and his company of stock market manipulation and accounting fraud. The resulting sell-off of Adani related shares wiped out tens of billions of dollars worth of market value for his business empire.Critics of the 60-year-old billionaire say his rise has been boosted by his apparent close ties to Modi.The budget requires approval from both houses of parliament, but it is bound to be enacted as Modi's party holds a strong majority.

“The budget makes the need once again to ramp up the virtuous cycle of investment and job creation,” Sitharaman said

A vegetable seller takes rest at a wholesale vegetable market in Guwahati, India

India to raise spending on job creation ahead of election

After speculations appeared in the media that the Bingo group could take over the license for the popular fast food chain McDonald's, the portal "Avaz" has learned that this company has no intentions of returning to our country for a long time. <h2>A series of scandals</h2>We remind you that the global corporation McDonald's is filing a lawsuit against Haris Ihtijarević. His company Gliese 581g lost its license after a series of scandals. First came the judgment of the court in Sarajevo, because Ihtijarević did not pay the rent for the McDonald's premises in Titova street.Then numerous financial frauds were discovered.As we previously published, Ihtijarević kept quiet and decided to sell the parking space in Marindvor. It is believed that he is selling property in Sarajevo in order to leave BiH as soon as possible.<h2>Stole water from "Avaz"</h2>Ihtijarević, we remind you, also defrauded the company "Avaz". As a tenant of the space for "McDonald's" in Nedžarići, he stole water from "Avaz" because he was illegally connected. He did this for 12 years, causing great financial damage to "Avaz" in the amount of more than 400,000 KM.For this reason, the management of "Avaz" submitted a criminal complaint to the SC Prosecutor's Office through a lawyer.

Numerous financial frauds of Ihtijarević were discovered

McDonald's has no intention of continuing to do business in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Central Investigation Office of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina is rocked by the scandal in which the investigators of this police agency are involved, and in connection with the Sky application and investigations that are linked to certain criminogenic persons! This scandal comes at a time when the chief state prosecutor, Milanko Kajganić, said that information from police agencies is leaking when it comes to Sky investigations, which is an indirect message that individuals are in cahoots with certain criminal persons. It's been that way for months.<h2>Its own ranks</h2>This police agency does not deny the information of "Avaz". It was confirmed that "the BiH Border Police consistently and continuously fights against crime and corruption within its own ranks, and that anyone who acts illegally will be prosecuted and sanctioned."- The aforementioned case is under the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Office for Professional Standards and Internal Control of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina is conducting an internal investigation - the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced.Due to the investigation related to the Sky application and the attempt to change the team proposed by the Prosecutor's Office, Spomenka Markulj, the contact person of the BP BiH with Europol, was dismissed on Friday by the decision of the Director of the BiH Border Police, Zoran Galić.Markulj was also the head of the investigation office, and now she has been transferred to another position.An internal investigation was launched against her in the BiH Border Police because, among other things, she refused to act according to the order of the head of this office, Adnan Kosovac. But she wasn't caught on Sky, her investigators were.One of them, after 15 days of receiving the Sky codes, decided to make an official note to inform the Agency that his name was mentioned in Sky. But why was he silent for days.<h2>Codes and lists</h2>It is about experienced investigator Edin Husomanović. The question is what waited 15 days, from January 11th, to report that his name was mentioned in Sky codes and why Markulj, going to the Prosecutor's Office, insisted on changing the prosecutor.Investigator S. K. was part of the team that worked with Markulj and Husomanović. They had Sky codes and lists from January 11th.The real question is whose name individuals in BP BiH tried to hide, given that certain members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS (MUP RS) are also mentioned in the crypts. A member of the Border Police was also discovered, on suspicion of accepting bribes.The name of the person on the crypt is allegedly also a high-ranking SIPA member.

This scandal comes at a time when the chief state prosecutor, Milanko Kajganić, said that information from police agencies is leaking

Who is in fear in police structures: Big "fishes" on Sky

Demonstrations were getting underway across France on Tuesday in the latest clash of wills with the government over its plans to push back the retirement age. Labor leaders aimed to bring more than 1 million demonstrators into the streets in what one veteran left-wing leader described as a “citizens' insurrection." The nationwide strikes and protests were a crucial test both for President Emmanuel Macron’s government and its opponents. The government says it is determined to push through Macron's election pledge to reform France's pension system. Labor unions and left-wing legislators fighting in parliament against Macron's plans are counting on protesters to turn out massively to strengthen their efforts to kill the retirement reform bill.Veteran left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon predicted “a historic day" of protests and defeat for Macron, as crowds of protesters began marching in cities and towns outside Paris — ahead of a major demonstration planned later Tuesday through the French capital.“It's not often that we see such a mass mobilization," Mélenchon, speaking in the southern city of Marseille. “It's a form of citizens' insurrection.”A first round of strikes and protests brought out between 1 million and 2 million demonstrators earlier this month, including many tens of thousands in Paris. Labor leaders were aiming to at least match or even better those numbers Tuesday, with around 250 demonstrations expected around the country. The government mobilized 11,000 officers to police the protests.Positions are hardening on both sides as lawmakers begin locking horns in parliament over the government's bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.On Monday, Macron described the reform as “essential.” His prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, insisted this past weekend that raising the retirement age to 64 is “no longer negotiable.”Strikes and protesters intend to prove otherwise.Rail operator SNCF warned of major network disruptions Tuesday because of strikes. It recommended that passengers cancel or postpone trips and work remotely if possible.Strikes also hit some schools and other sectors. Radio station France Inter played music instead of its usual morning talk shows and apologized to its listeners because employees were striking.

It's not often that we see such a mass mobilization

Strikes, protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle

A senior police official in Pakistan says the death toll in the Peshawar suicide mosque bombing has now climbed to 95 and acknowledges a serious “security lapse" that led to the tragedy. Kashif Aftab Abbasi, a senior officer in Peshawar, told reporters on Tuesday that along with the 95 now confirmed fatalities, at least 225 people were wounded, most of them policemen who were praying inside the mosque when the bomber struck the day before.“Yes, there was a security lapse and the inspector-general of the police has set up an inquiry committee, which will look into all aspects of the bombing," he said. “Action will be taken against those whose negligence” caused the attack.A suicide bombing that killed dozens of policemen at a mosque in a government compound in northwest Pakistan reflects “security lapses,” current and former officials said. The blast, which ripped through a Sunni mosque inside a major police facility the mosque, was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent years, with a death toll that rose to 88 Tuesday.More than 300 worshippers were praying in the mosque in the city of Peshawar, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest on Monday morning, officials said.The explosion blew off part of the roof, and what was left soon caved in, injuring many more, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer. Rescuers had to remove mounds of debris to reach worshippers still trapped under the rubble.More bodies were retrieved overnight and early Tuesday, according to Mohammad Asim, a government hospital spokesman in Peshawar, and several of those critically injured died. “Most of them were policemen,” Asim said of the victims. The bombing also wounded more than 150 people.Bilal Faizi, the chief rescue official, said rescue teams were still working Tuesday at the site as more people are believed trapped inside. Mourners were burying the victim at different graveyards in the city and elsewhere.Counter-terrorism police are investigating how the bomber was able to reach the mosque, which is in a walled compound, inside a high security zone with other government buildings.“Yes, it was a security lapse,” said Ghulam Ali, the provincial governor in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.Talat Masood, a retired army general and senior security analyst said Monday’s suicide bombing showed “negligence.”"When we know that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is active, and when we know that they have threatened to carry out attacks, there should have been more security at the police compound in Peshawar,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday, referring to a militant group also known as the Pakistani Taliban or TTP.Kamkan Bangash, a provincial secretary-general with opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf called for an investigation and said Pakistan will continue to face political instability so long as the current government is in power.“The current government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has failed to improve the economy and law and order situation, and it should resign to pave the way for snap parliamentary elections,” he said.The military’s media wing declined an Associated Press interview request for the chief of army staff. Asim Munir, who took office in November, has yet to do any media appearances.Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern action” against those behind the attack.“The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable. This is no less than an attack on Pakistan,” he tweeted.Authorities have not determined who was behind the bombing. Shortly after the explosion, TTP commander Sarbakaf Mohmand claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter.But hours later, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani distanced the group from the bombing, saying it was not its policy to target mosques, seminaries and religious places, adding that those taking part in such acts could face punitive action under TTP’s policy. His statement did not address why a TTP commander had claimed responsibility for the bombing.Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with government forces, as the country was contending with unprecedented floods that killed 1,739 people, destroyed more than 2 million homes, and at one point submerged as much as a third of the country.The Pakistani Taliban are the dominant militant group in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Peshawar has been the scene of frequent attacks. But the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, a regional affiliation of the Islamic State group and a rival of the Taliban, has also been behind deadly attacks in Pakistan in recent years. Overall, violence has increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021, as U.S. and NATO troops pulled out of the country after 20 years of war.The TTP is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. It has waged an insurgency in Pakistan in the past 15 years, seeking stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of its members in government custody and a reduction in the Pakistani military presence in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province it has long used as its base.Earlier this month, the Pakistani Taliban claimed one of its members shot and killed two intelligence officers, including the director of the counterterrorism wing of the country’s military-based spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence. Security officials said Monday the gunman was traced and killed in a shootout in the northwest, near the Afghan border. In 2014, a Pakistani Taliban faction attacked an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 154, mostly schoolchildren.The Taliban-run Afghan Foreign Ministry said it was “saddened to learn that numerous people lost their lives" in Peshawar and condemned attacks on worshippers as contrary to the teachings of Islam.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a visit to the Middle East, tweeted his condolences, saying the bombing in Peshawar was a “horrific attack."“Terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible," he said.Pakistan is also contending with political and economic crises in the wake of the floods and a disputed election.Condemnations also came from the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad, as well as the U.S. Embassy, which said that the “United States stands with Pakistan in condemning all forms of terrorism.”U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the bombing “particularly abhorrent” for targeting a place of worship, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also expressed his condolences, calling the bombing a “terrorist suicide attack.”

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern action” against those behind the attack

 A suicide bombing that killed dozens of policemen at a mosque in a government compound in northwest Pakistan reflects “security lapses"

Police say death toll in Pakistan mosque bombing now at 95

The same-sex life partnership law in Montenegro came into force on July 15th, 2021, and Budva has become a hit destination for same-sex weddings. In the first year when the law entered into force, four LGBTQ couples said the fateful "yes", while in 2022, 27 same-sex marriages were concluded.<h2>Make their love official</h2>Of those, as registrar Žana Kapa confirmed to us, three people from Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into a same-sex marriage.- Two girls from Bosnia and Herzegovina have married, while the third person from Bosnia and Herzegovina has a mixed marriage, i.e. the other partner was not from BiH, but from another country. However, such marriage concluded in Montenegro in Bosnia and Herzegovina means nothing because it is not recognized due to the absence of a law on entering into a same-sex partnership. They come to us, probably, to make their love official in some way, but legally in Bosnia and Herzegovina they do not have the status of married partners - Kapa stated for "Avaz".

In addition to citizens of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, same-sex marriages were also concluded in this coastal city by citizens of Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain...For this year, currently, more weddings have been announced than last year.<h2>Closed space</h2>- The Law is still "fresh" in enforcement, so people do not yet have the freedom to publicly enter into such a partnership. All this happens in some closed rooms, offices, where the two of them appear with two witnesses. It is interesting that the mother of one person from Bosnia and Herzegovina was at the wedding. There are almost no other guests, they still don't dare to do it somewhere public and transparent, like open spaces, beaches, hotels, restaurants. But it is expected that there will be many more couples this year. Currently, foreign citizens have more of that freedom - Kapa told us and added:- We married only one couple, two men, they were foreigners, outdoors. It was on a ship, near Budva, and it was a very beautiful ceremony.<h2>What is the procedure</h2>In terms of procedure, same-sex marriages require a birth certificate, a certificate of unmarried status, a certificate of citizenship and a passport.- If we are talking about foreigners who do not come from the countries of the region, the papers must be translated by an authorized court interpreter - explained Kapa.

I married two girls from BiH, and the third person's partner was from another country, Kapa said

Three persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into same-sex marriages

On the one hand, there are serious objections between us, on the other hand, there is a lot of interest in the SDA, which, through its regime portals, and perhaps some people within our structures, is trying to catch the last train and save itself from the absolute opposition, which for them would be problematic. <h2>Big mistakes</h2>Elmedin Konaković, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the leader of Narod i pravda, said this in an interview with "Avaz", commenting on the relations within the Eight after Semir Efendić's Stranka za BiH, Nermin Ogrešević's NES and Damir Marjanović's Za nove genercije left the SDP without delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.- I didn't have a chance to talk in person with my colleagues, we will do it at the beginning of the week and, after I talk live with first of all Nermin Nikšić and Edin Forto, and then with the other representatives of the Eight, we will express our position on everything - Konaković said.He referred to the beginning of his mandate as head of diplomacy, saying that from Thursday and from the first few contacts with important representatives of the international community, the fact was confirmed that Bosnia and Herzegovina did almost nothing in lobbying the European Union, the administration of the United States of America, and friends in the East and West, and neighboring countries and that those processes have been started.

As he said, right at the beginning, they noted the big mistakes of his predecessor, Bisera Turković (SDA), and above all, they concern the opening of consulates in Rijeka and Novi Pazar. Konaković pointed out that these consulates were opened exclusively for the SDA campaign.<h2>Audit report</h2>- They were opened without systematized workplaces, there are no people in those buildings, or there are individuals who apparently work illegally or through other channels. Expenses of around one hundred thousand euros were incurred where there is no systematized work nor was it possible to open those consulates, but only for the sake of the campaign or the interests of the party. I'm not gloating, but we were talking about how those who call themselves protectors used BiH institutions exclusively and primarily for party and private interests or as ATMs - said Konaković.

By the way, "Avaz" is in possession of the audit report for the year 2022, which speaks of the completely non-domestic management of one of the most important institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report also states how much it costs the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to rent empty consulates. Thus, renting this space in Rijeka costs us 3,720 euros per month, in Novi Pazar 3,850 euros, in Tirana 2,120 euros...&nbsp;

I will talk first with Nikšić and Forto, and then with the other representatives of the Eight about everything

Konaković for "Avaz": SDA wants to be saved from becoming the opposition

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that President Vladimir Putin didn’t seem serious about avoiding war in the days before Russia invaded Ukraine — and at one point told the British leader it would be easy to kill him with a missile. The Kremlin denied Putin made any such threat.In a documentary released Monday, Johnson says he called Putin in February 2022 and tried to dissuade him from war, telling him Ukraine would not be joining NATO in the foreseeable future – a longstanding concern of the Russian leader – and warning invasion would bring “massive” Western sanctions.“From the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate,” Johnson says in the BBC series “Putin vs the West.”Johnson says that Putin “threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that.”The three-part series produced by veteran documentary-maker Norma Percy recounts how Western leaders dealt with Russia’s president in the years leading up to the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion.Percy said Monday that she did not think Putin was making a direct threat but “it was a reminder that he could do it, and (Johnson) should remember that when he is dealing with him.”Asked about Johnson’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that his account was untrue, “or, more precisely, it was a lie.” Peskov said Johnson may have deliberately lied or failed to understand what Putin was telling him.“There were no threats with missiles,” Peskov said on a conference call with reporters. "While talking about security challenges to Russia, President Putin said that if Ukraine joins NATO the potential deployment of U.S. or other NATO missiles near our borders would mean that any such missile could reach Moscow in minutes.”Johnson was one of the most prominent international allies of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until he was forced out of office in mid-2022 by ethics scandals. Britain remains a major supplier of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Johnson says that Putin “threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute"

Boris Johnson says Putin said he could hit him with missile

Russian shelling killed at least five people and wounded 13 others during the previous 24 hours, Ukrainian authorities said Monday as the Kremlin’s and Kyiv’s forces remained locked in combat in eastern Ukraine. The casualties included a woman who was killed and three others who were wounded by the Russian shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the country’s northeast, according to regional Gov. Oleh Syniyehubov.Moscow’s troops seized large areas of the northeastern Kharkiv region in the months following its invasion of its neighbor last February. But Ukrainian counteroffensives that began in August snatched back Russian-occupied territory, most notably in Kharkiv.Those successes lent weight to Ukraine’s arguments that its troops could deliver more stinging defeats to Russia if its Western allies provided more weaponry.Kyiv last week won promises of tanks from the United States and Germany to help its war effort.Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday hinted at the prospect of more upcoming pledges, saying that “any activity aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defense powers is under consultation with our NATO partners.”Military analysts say more aid for Ukraine is crucial if Kyiv is to block an expected Russian offensive in the spring and launch its own effort to push back the Russian forces.“The pattern of delivery of Western aid has powerfully shaped the pattern of this conflict,” the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said late Sunday.But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that supplies of Western weapons won’t stop Russia.“Ukraine keeps demanding new weapons and the West is encouraging those demands,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters Monday. “It’s a deadlock, it results in a significant escalation and makes NATO countries increasingly involved in the conflict.”Ukraine’s presidential office said the eastern Donetsk region, which has been the scene of intense fighting for months, remains “invariably hard.”Heavy fighting continued to rage around Bakhmut and Vuhledar, with regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko saying that 15 towns and villages in the region came under shelling Sunday.Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Bakhmut, with the effort being led by the Wagner Group, a private military company led by a rogue millionaire with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.Ukrainian troops last week said they conducted an organized retreat from Soledar, a few kilometers (miles) from Bakhmut, amid pressure from Wagner, which is believed to have a large number of convicts in its ranks.Ukrainian authorities said the southern city of Kherson also has come under Russian shelling. The bombardment damaged residential buildings, a hospital, a school, a bus station, a bank and a post office.Two foreign vessels were damaged in the port of Kherson, the presidential office added without elaborating.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that supplies of Western weapons won’t stop Russia

A Ukrainian soldier looks out of an APC during combat training in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023.

Russian shelling kills 5 in tough eastern Ukraine combat

The Memphis police chief disbanded the city's so-called Scorpion unit on Saturday, citing a “cloud of dishonor” from newly released video that showed some of its officers beating Tyre Nichols to death after stopping the Black motorist. Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis acted a day after the harrowing video emerged, saying she listened to Nichols' relatives, community leaders and uninvolved officers in making the decision. Her announcement came as the nation and the city struggled to come to grips with the violence of the officers, who are also Black. The video renewed doubts about why fatal encounters with law enforcement keep happening despite repeated calls for change.Protestors marching though downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved. One protestor said over a bullhorn that “the unit that killed Tyre has been permanently disbanded.”Referring to “the heinous actions of a few” that dishonored the unit, Davis contradicted an earlier statement that she would keep the unit. She said it was imperative that the department “take proactive steps in the healing process.”“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” she said in a statement. She said the officers currently assigned to it agreed “unreservedly.”The unit is composed of three teams of about 30 officers whose stated aim is to target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime. It had been inactive since Nichols' Jan. 7 arrest.Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods.In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Davis had said she would not shut down a unit if a few officers commit “some egregious act” and because she needed it to continue to work.“The whole idea that the Scorpion unit is a bad unit, I just have a problem with that,” Davis said then.Davis became the first Black female chief in Memphis one year after George Floyd was killed at the hands of Minneapolis police. At the time, she was chief in Durham, North Carolina, and had called for sweeping police reform.Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, lawyers for the Nichols family, said the move was “a decent and just decision.”“We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units. It extends so much further,” they said.The five disgraced officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death, which came three days after the arrest. They face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.The video images released Friday show police savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes while screaming profanities at him in an assault that the Nichols family legal team has likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. Nichols calls out for his mother before his limp body is propped against a squad car and the officers exchange fist-bumps.The video also left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop and about other law enforcement officers who stood by as Nichols lay motionless on the pavement.“Nobody tried to stop anything. They have a duty to intervene, a duty to render care,” Brenda Goss Andrews, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said in an interview after viewing the video.She also was struck by the immediate aggression from officers as soon as they got out of the car: “It just went to 100. ... This was never a matter of de-escalation,” Goss Andrews said, adding, “The young man never had a chance from the moment that he was stopped.”Davis has said other officers are under investigation, and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies were relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated.Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said the family would “continue to seek justice” and those who failed to render aid are “just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows.”A Memphis police spokeswoman declined to comment on the other officers' conduct.Cities nationwide had braced for demonstrations after the video emerged, but protests were scattered and nonviolent. Several dozen demonstrators in Memphis blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Protesters also blocked traffic in New York City, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.Blake Ballin, the lawyer for Mills, told AP in a statement Saturday that the videos “produced as many questions as they have answers.”Some of those will focus on what Mills “knew and what he was able to see” and whether his actions “crossed the lines that were crossed by other officers during this incident,” Ballin said.Davis acknowledged that the police department has a supervisor shortage and said the lack of a supervisor in the arrest was a “major problem.” City officials have pledged to provide more of them.It's not clear why the traffic stop happened in the first place. One officer can be heard on video saying that Nichols wouldn’t stop and then swerved as though he intended to hit the officer’s car. The officer says that when Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out.But Davis said the department cannot substantiate the reason for the stop.“We don’t know what happened,” she said, adding, “All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top.”After the first officer roughly pulls Nichols out of the car, Nichols can be heard saying, “I didn't do anything,” as a group of officers begin to wrestle him to the ground.One is heard yelling, “Tase him! Tase him!”Nichols calmly says, “OK, I’m on the ground," and that he was just trying to go home. Moments later, he yells at them to “stop."Nichols is then seen running as an officer fires a Taser. The officers start chasing Nichols.Others are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. His mother’s home, where he lived, was only a few houses away, and his family said he was trying to get there.The officers beat him with a baton, and kick and punch him. The attack continues even after he collapses.It takes more than 20 minutes afterward before any sort of medical attention is provided.During the wait for an ambulance, officers joke and air grievances. They complain that a handheld radio was ruined, that someone lost a flashlight, that multiple officers were caught in the pepper spray used against Nichols.Throughout the videos, they make claims about Nichols’ behavior that are not supported by the footage or that the district attorney and other officials say did not happen. In one, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop Nichols reached for the officer's gun and almost had his hand on the handle, something not shown in the video.After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say he must have been high. Later one says no drugs were found in Nichols' car, and another immediately counters that he must have ditched something while running away.During a speech Saturday in Harlem, the Rev. Al Sharpton said the beating was particularly egregious because the officers were Black, too.“Your Blackness will not stop us from fighting you. These five cops not only disgraced their names, they disgraced our race,” Sharpton said.

Protestors marching though downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved

Protesters march Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn., over the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police

Memphis police disband unit that fatally beat Tyre Nichols

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired the chairman of the governing Conservative Party on Sunday for a “serious breach” of ethics rules in failing to come clean about a tax dispute. Sunak had faced days of pressure to sack Nadhim Zahawi amid allegations he settled a multimillion-dollar unpaid tax bill while he was in charge of the country’s Treasury.The prime minister acted after a standards probe found Zahawi had breached the ministerial code of conduct. It said he had failed to disclose details of his dispute with tax authorities and the fact that he had paid a penalty.In a letter to Zahawi, Sunak said he had been forced to act to keep his promise that his government “would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”Zahawi had acknowledged the tax dispute but argued his error was “careless and not deliberate.”In his response to Sunak, Zahawi pledged to support the prime minister as a backbench lawmaker and made no reference to the ethics inquiry. He attacked the media — which first revealed his whopping tax bill, reported at almost 5 million pounds ($6.2 million) — and claimed some reporting did not reflect “legitimate scrutiny of public officials.”Zahawi headed the U.K. Treasury from July to September 2022 in the final months of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tenure, and was appointed Conservative Party chairman when Sunak took office in October.Sunak has vowed to restore order and integrity to government after three years of turmoil under predecessors Johnson – brought down by ethics scandals – and Liz Truss, who quit within weeks after her policies rocked the U.K. economy.Last week he asked the government's standards adviser, Laurie Magnus, to investigate Zahawi's tax affairs and said he would wait for the results before acting.In a report released Sunday, Magnus found Zahawi had shown “insufficient regard” for the requirement “to be honest, open and an exemplary leader through his own behavior” in public life.The investigation into Zahawi by HMRC, the U.K’s tax office, centered around the sale of some 27 million pounds ($33.4 million) in shares in YouGov, an opinion polling firm he co-founded. The probe began in April 2021, but Zahawi did not declare it when he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer more than a year later.The Magnus report found there should have been an understanding from the outset that the matter was serious. It said this was not reflected in public statements given by Zahawi, until he confirmed on Jan. 21 that a settlement had been reached.Zahawi said Sunday it had been “the privilege of my life” to serve in government. The 55-year-old, who came to Britain as a child refugee from Iraq, was vaccines minister in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, and later served a nine-month stint as education minister.The Zahawi episode was a test of the authority of Sunak, who is grappling with a staggering economy and a deeply divided Conservative Party. Standards inquiries are also underway into Johnson — over claims he secured a loan with the help of a Conservative donor who was later appointed chairman of the BBC — and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who faces allegations he bullied staff.The stories are fuel for opponents who accuse Sunak — a former investment banker who is married to the daughter of an Indian billionaire — of leading a government of the wealthy that is out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people.Last year, it was revealed that his wife Akshata Murthy didn’t pay U.K. tax on her overseas income, including 11.5 million pounds a year in dividends from Infosys, the Indian IT company founded by her father. The practice was legal, but it looked insensitive at best at a time when Sunak — who was then the U.K. Treasury chief — was raising taxes for millions of Britons.Housing Secretary Michael Gove said Sunak had shown integrity in waiting for the facts before firing Zahawi.“The electorate will have a chance to pass judgment," he told Times Radio. "I hope and believe that by the time of the next general election, people will have seen that Rishi Sunak is someone who is deeply moral, deeply public spirited, and committed, above all, to public service.”

Sunak had faced days of pressure to sack Nadhim Zahawi amid allegations he settled a multimillion-dollar unpaid tax bill while he was in charge

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has fired the chairman of his ruling Conservative Party chairman over a “serious breach” of the ministerial code

UK leader fires party chairman over tax bill allegations

An unarmed Black man dies after a videotaped beating by police. The officers involved are fired. After a thorough review of the evidence, criminal charges are swiftly filed against the offending officers. Investigation, accountability and charges.This is often the most Black citizens can hope for as the deaths continue. Nationwide, police have killed roughly three people per day consistently since 2020, according to academics and advocates for police reform who track such deaths.Tyre Nichols' fatal encounter with police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, recorded in video made public Friday night, is a glaring reminder that efforts to reform policing have failed to prevent more flashpoints in an intractable epidemic of brutality.Nearly 32 years ago, Rodney King’s savage beating by police in Los Angeles prompted heartfelt calls for change. They've been repeated in a ceaseless rhythm ever since, punctuated by the deaths of Amadou Diallo in New York, Oscar Grant in Oakland, California, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and so many others.George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis in 2020 was so agonizing to watch, it summoned a national reckoning that featured federal legislation proposed in his name and shows of solidarity by corporations and sports leagues. All fell short of the shift in law enforcement culture Black people in America have called for — a culture that promotes freedom from fear, trust in police and mutual respect.“We need public safety, right? We need law enforcement to combat pervasive crime,” said Jason Turner, senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. “Also, we don’t want the people who are sworn to protect and serve us brutalizing us for a simple traffic stop, or any offense.”The five Black officers are now fired and charged with murder and other crimes in the Jan. 10 death of Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder, FedEx worker and father to a 4-year-old boy.From police brass and the district attorney’s office to the White House, officials said Nichols’ killing points to a need for bolder reforms that go beyond simply diversifying the ranks, changing use-of-force rules and encouraging citizens to file complaints."The world is watching us," Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said. "If there is any silver lining to be drawn from this very dark cloud, it’s that perhaps this incident can open a broader conversation about the need for police reform.”President Joe Biden joined national civil rights leaders in similar calls to action.“To deliver real change, we must have accountability when law enforcement officers violate their oaths, and we need to build lasting trust between law enforcement, the vast majority of whom wear the badge honorably, and the communities they are sworn to serve and protect,” the president said.But Memphis, whose 628,000 residents celebrate barbecue and blues music and lament being the place where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, has seen this before. The city took steps advocates called for in a “Reimagine Policing” initiative in 2021, and mirrored a set of policy changes reformers want all departments to implement immediately, known as “8 Can’t Wait.”De-escalation training is now required. Officers are told to limit uses of force, exhaust all alternatives before resorting to deadly force and report all uses of force. Tennessee also took action: State law now requires officers to intervene to stop abuse and report excessive force by their colleagues.Showing unusual transparency for a police department, the MPD now publishes accountability reports that include the race of people subjected to use of force each year. They show Black men and women were overwhelmingly targeted for rougher treatment in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They were subject to nearly 86% of the recorded uses of guns, batons, pepper spray, physical beatings and other force in 2021, the total nearly doubling that year to 1,700 cases.Seven uses of force by Memphis police ended in death during these three years.“I don’t know how much more cumulative Black death our community should have to pay to convince elected officials that the policing system isn’t broken — it’s working exactly as it was designed to, at the expense of Black life,” said Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, a Tennessee-based civil rights leadership training school.The Nichols case — just one of the brutality cases to make national news this month — exposes an uncomfortable truth: More than two years since the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks touched off protests, policing reforms have not significantly reduced such killings.States approved nearly 300 police reform bills after Floyd’s murder, creating civilian oversight of police, more anti-bias training, stricter use-of-force limits and alternatives to arrests in cases involving people with mental illnesses, according to a recent analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland.Despite calls to “defund the police," an Associated Press review of police funding nationwide found only modest cuts, driven largely by shrinking revenue related to the coronavirus pandemic. Budgets increased and more officers were hired for some large departments, including New York City’s.Still stuck in Congress is the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would prohibit racial profiling, ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit the transfer of military equipment to police departments, and make it easier to bring charges against offending officers. Biden said he told Nichols' mother that he would be “making a case” to Congress to pass the Floyd Act “to get this under control.”The Rev. Al Sharpton said his eulogy at Nichols’ funeral on Wednesday will include a call for new laws. NAACP President Derrick Johnson also took Congress to task.“By failing to write a piece of legislation, you’re writing another obituary,” Johnson said. “Tell us what you’re going to do to honor Tyre Nichols. … We can name all the victims of police violence, but we can’t name a single law you have passed to address it.”Advocates want state and federal legislation because local changes vary widely in scope and effect and can be undone by a single election after years of grassroots activism. But some say strict regulations are just the start — and the video of Nichols’ agony proves it.“Changing a rule doesn’t change a behavior,” said Katie Ryan, chief of staff for Campaign Zero, a group of academics, policing experts and activists working to end police violence. “The culture of a police department has to shift into actually implementing the policies, not just saying there’s a rule in place.”The five officers charged — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were part of the so-called Scorpion unit. Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods.The Memphis police chief, Cerelyn “CJ" Davis, disbanded the unit on Saturday.“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit," she said in a statement.Prior to the move by Davis, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said it was clear that the officers involved in the attack on Nichols violated the department's policies and training.“I want to assure you we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again," Strickland said in a statement. “We are initiating an outside, independent review of the training, policies and operations of our specialized units."The Memphis police union extended condolences to Nichols' family, saying it “is committed to the administration of justice and NEVER condones the mistreatment of ANY citizen nor ANY abuse of power.” The statement also expressed faith that the justice system would reveal “the totality of circumstances” in the case.Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, pushed back against the conclusion that policing must change. This was not “legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong,” Yoes said. “This is a criminal assault under the pretext of law.”Protesters turned out again Friday night after the city released the video footage. Turner, the Memphis pastor, called the images “further proof that our city’s and our nation’s criminal justice systems are in dire need of change.”“It’s not like we’re short on concrete, reasonable recommendations,” said the Rev. Earle Fisher, senior pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church. “What we’re short on is the political will and the commitment to making the structural changes.”

This is often the most Black citizens can hope for as the deaths continue

Members of the Memphis Police Department work a crime scene in Memphis

Tyre Nichols case revives calls for change in police culture

Former President Donald Trump is set to kick off his 2024 White House bid on Saturday with visits to a pair of early-voting states, his first campaign events since announcing his latest run more than two months ago. Trump will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire GOP’s annual meeting before traveling to Columbia, South Carolina, where he is set to introduce his state leadership team. New Hampshire and South Carolina hold two of the party’s first three nominating contests, giving them enormous power in selecting the nominee.Trump and his allies hope the events will offer a show of force behind the former president after a sluggish start to his campaign that left many questioning his commitment to running again. In recent weeks, his backers have reached out to political operatives and elected officials to secure support for Trump at a critical point when other Republicans are preparing their own expected challenges.“The gun is fired, and the campaign season has started," said Stephen Stepanek, outgoing chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party who served as co-chair of Trump's 2016 campaign in the state.While Trump remains the only declared 2024 presidential candidate, potential challengers, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, are expected to get their campaign underway in the coming months.In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and several members of the state's congressional delegation plan to attend Saturday's event at the Statehouse. But Trump's team has struggled to line up support from state lawmakers, even some who eagerly backed him during previous runs.Some have said that more than a year out from primary balloting is too early to make endorsements or that they' are waiting to see who else enters the race. Others have said it is time for the party to move past Trump to a new generation of leadership.Republican state Rep. RJ May, vice chair of South Carolina’s state House Freedom Caucus, said he wasn't going to attend Trump's event because he was focused on that group's legislative fight with the GOP caucus. He indicated that he was open to other candidates in the 2024 race.“I think we’re going to have a very strong slate of candidates here in South Carolina,” said May, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. He added, “I would 100% take a Donald Trump over Joe Biden.”Dave Wilson, president of conservative Christian nonprofit Palmetto Family, said some conservative voters may have concerns about Trump's recent comments that Republicans who opposed abortion without exceptions had cost the party in the November elections.“It gives pause to some folks within the conservative ranks of the Republican Party as to whether or not we need the process to work itself out," said Wilson, whose group hosted Pence for a speech in 2021. He added: "You continue to have to earn your vote. Nothing is taken for granted.”Acknowledging that Trump “did some phenomenal things when he was president,” like securing a conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority, Wilson said South Carolina’s GOP voters may be seeking “a candidate who can be the standard-bearer not only for now but to build ongoing momentum across America for conservatism for the next few decades.”But Gerri McDaniel, who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign and will be attending Saturday's event, rejected the idea that voters were ready to move on from the former president.“Some of the media keep saying he’s losing his support. No, he’s not," she said. “It’s only going to be greater than it was before because there are so many people who are angry about what’s happening in Washington.”The South Carolina event, at a government building, surrounded by elected officials, is in some ways off-brand for a former reality television star who typically favors big rallies and has tried to cultivate an outsider image. But the reality is that Trump is a former president who is seeking to reclaim the White House by contrasting his time in office with the current administration.Rallies are also expensive, and Trump, who is notoriously frugal, added new financial challenges when he deciding to begin his campaign in November — far earlier than many allies had urged. That leaves him subject to strict fundraising regulations and bars him from using his well-funded leadership PAC to pay for such events, which can cost several million dollars.Officials expect Trump to speak in the second-floor lobby of the Statehouse, an opulent ceremonial area between the House and Senate chambers.The venue has played host to some of South Carolina’s most notable political news moments, including Haley’s 2015 signing of a bill to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds and McMaster's 2021 signing of legislation banning abortions in the state after around six weeks of pregnancy. The state Supreme Court recently ruled the abortion law unconstitutional, and McMaster has pledged to seek a rehearing.Trump's nascent campaign has already sparked controversy, most particularly when he had dinner with Holocaust-denying white nationalist Nick Fuentes and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who had made a series of antisemitic comments. Trump also was widely mocked for selling a series of digital trading cards that pictured him as a superhero, a cowboy and an astronaut, among others.At the same time, he is the subject of a series of criminal investigations, including one into the discovery of hundreds of documents with classified markings at his Florida club and whether he obstructed justice by refusing to return them, as well as state and federal examinations of his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.Still, Trump remains the only announced 2024 candidate, and early polling shows he's a favorite to win his party's nomination.Stepanek, who was required to remain neutral until his term as New Hampshire party chair ends at Saturday's party meeting, dismissed the significance of Trump's slow start, which campaign officials say accounts for time spent putting infrastructure in place for a national campaign.In New Hampshire, he said, “there's been a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement" for Trump's reelection. He said Trump's most loyal supporters continue to stand behind him.“You have a lot of people who weren’t with him in ‘15, ’16, then became Trumpers, then became never-Trumpers,” Stepanek said. “But the people who supported him in New Hampshire, who propelled him to his win in 2016 in the New Hampshire primary, they're all still there, waiting for the president.”

Trump will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire GOP’s annual meeting before traveling to Columbia

Former President Donald Trump gestures as he announces he is running for president for the third time as he speaks at Mar-a-Lago

Trump kicking off 2024 run with stops in early-voting states

A 13-year-old Palestinian opened fire in east Jerusalem on Saturday, wounding two Israelis, officials said, a day after another attacker killed seven outside a synagogue in the deadliest attack in the city since 2008. The shooting in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem, near the historic Old City, wounded a father and son, ages 47 and 23, paramedics said. Both were fully conscious and in moderate to serious condition in the hospital, the medics added.As police rushed to the scene, two passers-by with licensed weapons shot and overpowered the 13-year-old attacker, police said. Police confiscated his handgun and took the wounded teen to a hospital. Video showed police escorting a wounded teen, wearing nothing but underwear, away from the scene and onto a stretcher, his hands cuffed behind his back. Authorities taped off the street, emergency vehicles and security forces swarmed the area and helicopters whirled overhead.“He waited to ambush civilians on the holy Sabbath day,” Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne told The Associated Press, adding that the teenager opened fire on a group of five civilians. Security footage showed the victims to be observant Jews, wearing skullcaps and tzitzit, or knotted ritual tassels.Saturday's events — on the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in the region — raised the possibility of even greater conflagration in one of the bloodiest months in Israel and the occupied West Bank in several years. On Friday, a Palestinian gunman killed at least seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem, an area captured by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move not internationally recognized.The attacks pose pivotal test for Israel’s new far-right government. Its firebrand minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has presented himself as an enforcer of law and order and grabbed headlines for his promises to take even stronger action against the Palestinians.The Israeli army said it had deployed another battalion to the West Bank on Saturday, adding hundreds more troops to a presence already on heightened alert in the occupied territory.In the Jenin refugee camp, the site of a deadly Israeli military raid on Thursday that fueled the latest escalation, footage showed Palestinians dancing and cheering in celebration of the shooting on Saturday. Palestinian detainees who celebrated in prison after Friday's attack were placed in solitary confinement, the Israeli prison service said.Prime Minister Benjamin said he would convene his Security Cabinet later, after the Sabbath, which ends at sundown, to discuss a further response to the attack near the synagogue. Security forces launched a crackdown in east Jerusalem, fanning out into the neighborhood of the 21-year-old Palestinian gunman, who was shot and killed at the scene. Police arrested 42 of his family members and neighbors for questioning in the At-Tur neighborhood.Police Chief Kobi Shabtai permanently moved a force, similar to a S.W.A.T. team, in the city and beefed up forces, instructing police to work 12-hour shifts. He urged the public to call a hotline if they see anything suspicious.The earlier Friday attack came a day after an Israeli military raid killed nine Palestinians in the flashpoint Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank that prompted a rocket barrage from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.Although calm had appeared to take hold after the limited exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza militants, tensions were running high in Jerusalem and the West Bank.Thursday's raid, deadliest single incursion in the West Bank since 2002, followed a particularly bloody month that saw at least 30 Palestinians — militants and civilians — killed in in confrontations with Israelis in the West Bank, according to a tally by the AP.Last year, as the Israeli military intensified its arrest raids following a string of deadly Palestinian attacks within Israel, at least 150 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. It was the highest annual death toll for more than a decade and a half. Thirty people were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis last year.Israel says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed.The Israeli military contends its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks. But Palestinians say they further entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Bank, captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians demand east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state, and much of the world considers it illegally occupied. Israel claims as its united, sovereign capital.Home to the shrines of all three major monotheistic religions, the contested capital been the centerpiece of spiking tensions between Israelis and Palestinians for years.Both Palestinian attackers behind the shootings on Friday and Saturday came from east Jerusalem. Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem hold permanent residency status, allowing them to work and move freely throughout Israel, but they are not allowed to vote in national elections. Residency rights can be stripped if a Palestinian is found to live outside the city for an extended period or in certain security cases.Although their standard of living is generally better than in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian residents of the city receive a fraction of the services that Jewish residents do. They also complain of home demolitions and the near impossibility of obtaining Israeli building permits.

He waited to ambush civilians on the holy Sabbath day, Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne told 

An Israeli policeman secures a shooting attack site in east Jerusalem, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. A Palestinian gunman opened fire in east Jerusalem on Saturday, wounding at least two people less than a day after another attacker killed seven outside a synagogue there in the deadliest attack in the city since 2008.

Palestinian teen wounds 2, day after 7 killed in Jerusalem

Petr Pavel, a retired army general, defeated populist billionaire Andrej Babis in a runoff vote Saturday to become the new Czech president. Pavel, 61, will succeed controversy-courting Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious post. With the ballots from 99.5% of polling stations counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Pavel had 58.2% of the vote compared with 42.8% for Babis.“We can have different views of a number of issues, but that doesn’t mean we’re enemies,” Pavel said in a message to voters who cast ballots for Babis after what was considered a nasty presidential campaign period. “We have to learn how to communicate with each other.”Babis conceded defeat and congratulated Pavel on his victory. He called on his supporters “to accept that I’ve lost and accept we have a new president.”Pavel, who ran as an independent, is a former chairman of NATO’s military committee, the alliance’s highest military body. He fully endorsed the Czech Republic's military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion and stresses the importance of the country's membership in the European Union and NATO.The president picks the prime minister after a general election, one of the office’s key responsibilities, and appoints members of the central bank. The office-holder also selects Constitutional Court judges with the approval of Parliament’s upper house.Otherwise, the president has little executive power since Czechia is run by a government chosen and led by the prime minister.Losing the race to Pavel was another major defeat for Babis 68, a former prime minister. His centrist ANO (YES) movement ended up in opposition after losing the 2021 general election.Zeman, the outgoing president, had backed Babis, one of country’s richest people. The two men share euroskeptic views and the habit of using anti-migrant rhetoric.While Babis has been a divisive figure, he maintained his popular support with older voters. He accused Pavel, during a campaign marred by false accusations, of having been a KGB-trained communist spy. He provided no evidence for the claim, and went on to compare his opponent to Russian President Vladimir Putin.The Ukraine war was a core campaign issue. Babis presented himself as a peacemaker and labeled Pavel a warmonger due to his military past.In his most controversial statement, Babis said he wouldn’t send troops to Poland or the Baltics if the NATO allies were attacked. He later backtracked.Zeman, who took office in March 2013, was the country's first president elected by popular vote. His second and final five-year term expires in March. Lawmakers elected the previous two presidents, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus.Before the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Zeman divided the nation with his pro-Russia stance and support for closer ties with China.

The Ukraine war was a core campaign issue. Babis presented himself as a peacemaker and labeled Pavel a warmonger due to his military past

Czech Republic's President elect Petr Pavel with his wife Eva greets his supporters after announcement of the preliminary results of the presidential runoff in Prague, Czech Republic

Retired Czech army general Pavel wins presidential election

Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in “fast-track” talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine’s supporters in the West “understand how the war is developing” and the need to supply planes capable of providing cover for the armored fighting vehicles that the United States and Germany pledged at the beginning of the month.However, in remarks to online video channel Freedom, Podolyak said that some of Ukraine's Western partners maintain a “conservative” attitude to arms deliveries, “due to fear of changes in the international architecture.” Russia and North Korea have accused the West of prolonging and taking a direct role in the war by sending Kyiv increasingly sophisticated weapons.“We need to work with this. We must show (our partners) the real picture of this war," Podolyak said, without naming specific countries. “We must speak reasonably and tell them, for example, ‘This and this will reduce fatalities, this will reduce the burden on infrastructure. This will reduce security threats to the European continent, this will keep the war localized.’ And we are doing it.”The U.S. and Germany agreed Wednesday to share advanced tanks with Ukraine along with the Bradley and Marder vehicles promised earlier, a decision that led to criticism not only from the Kremlin but from the prime minister of NATO and European Union member Hungary.Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban asserted Friday that Western countries providing weapons and money to assist Ukraine in its war with Russia have “drifted” into becoming active participants in the conflict. Orban has refused to send weapons to neighboring Ukraine and sought to block EU funds earmarked for military aid.The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it would summon Hungary's ambassador to complain about Orban's remarks. A ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, said Orban told reporters that Ukraine was “a no-man’s land” and compared it to Afghanistan.“Such statements are completely unacceptable. Budapest continues on its course to deliberately destroy Ukrainian-Hungarian relations,” Nikolenko said in a Facebook post.President Joe Biden's announcement that the U.S. would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine reversed months of arguments by Washington that they were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.The U.S. decision persuaded German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had expressed concern about a unilateral action drawing Russia's wrath, to agree to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany's stocks and to allow European countries with tanks to send some of theirs.Western weapons have proven essential to Ukraine's defense while stoking ever-higher tensions with Moscow. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that Ukrainian forces used U.S.-made HIMARS rockets to strike a hospital in the eastern Ukrainian town of Novoaidar, killing 14 people.Novoaidar is located in Luhansk province, which is almost entirely under the control of Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists. The Russian Defense Ministry alleged the hospital was deliberately targeted. Its claim of a strike in Novoaidar could not be immediately verified.Amid the news of the Western pledges of heavy tanks, Russia bombarded Ukraine with missiles, exploding drones and artillery shells this week. The attacks continued Saturday, when Russian missiles struck the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province.The missiles fell in a residential area, killing three civilians, wounding 14 and damaging four high-rise apartment buildings, a hotel and garages, Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.“Kostyantynivka is a city relatively far from the front line, but still, it constantly suffers from enemy attacks. Everyone who remains in the city exposes themselves to mortal danger," Kyrylenko said. "The Russians target civilians because they are not able to fight the Ukrainian army.”In a separate Telegram post earlier Saturday, Kyrylenko reported that Russian attacks in the province killed four civilians in all and wounded seven others in 24 hours.Russian rockets hit a residential area the Donestsk town of Chasiv Yar on Friday night, killing of two people and wounding five more, the governor said. Photos attached to Kyrylenko’s post showed a three-story school building on fire.Donetsk province, where the territory is roughly split between Russian and Ukrainian control, has become the battle epicenter of the war as Moscow tries to jump-start a monthslong, grinding offensive to capture the city of Bakhmut.Chasiv Yar lies on a hill strategically located for the defense of Bakhmut, and has come under intensified Russian shelling. Capturing Bakhmut would allow Russian troops to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines and potentially pave the way for them to threaten Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the largest remaining Ukrainian-held cities in the country’s east.Russian forces continued ground attacks around Bakhmut and Avdiivka, another Donetsk city to the south, while Ukrainian troops were on the offensive in southern and northeast Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said in a Saturday morning update.The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that Russian troops “are defending themselves” near Lyman in Luhansk and Kharkiv provinces north of Donetsk, as well in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces in the south.The fighting has largely been deadlocked over the past months, with winter conditions slowing down ground operations and neither side reporting significant progress.In the same update, the military reported that Russian forces launched 10 missile strikes, 26 air strikes and 81 shelling attacks on Ukrainian territory between Friday and Saturday mornings. The shelling killed two civilians in Kherson, another province that is partly Russian-occupied.Podolyak, the presidential adviser, said Ukraine needs supplies of Western long-range missiles “to drastically curtail the key tool of the Russian army” by destroying the warehouses where it stores cannon artillery used on the front line.

Novoaidar is located in Luhansk province, which is almost entirely under the control of Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists

Suffering from cancer, Gennadiy Shaposhnikov, 83, rests in his partially destroyed home which was hit by Russian shelling last fall in Kalynivske, Ukraine

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News

India to raise spending on job creation ahead of election

McDonald's has no intention of continuing to do business in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Who is in fear in police structures: Big "fishes" on Sky

Strikes, protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle

Police say death toll in Pakistan mosque bombing now at 95

Three persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into same-sex marriages

Konaković for "Avaz": SDA wants to be saved from becoming the opposition

Boris Johnson says Putin said he could hit him with missile

Russian shelling kills 5 in tough eastern Ukraine combat

Memphis police disband unit that fatally beat Tyre Nichols

UK leader fires party chairman over tax bill allegations

Tyre Nichols case revives calls for change in police culture

Trump kicking off 2024 run with stops in early-voting states

Palestinian teen wounds 2, day after 7 killed in Jerusalem

Retired Czech army general Pavel wins presidential election

Ukraine: 'Fast-track' talks underway for missiles, planes