Nato watches Russian 'Zombies' in Estonia
In a cramped crew room, in a building just next to the runway of the Amari airbase in Estonia, the television is showing old episodes of Friends.
Feet up on the table, coffee mugs in hand, a bit of casual banter crisscrosses the room. On the TV screen, Rachel is just back from the hairdresser, Ross is upset about something. Then an airman appears around the doorway and announces calmly: "Zombie heading north out of Kaliningrad."
Instantly people are on their feet and moving next door to the Operations Room, where screens and digital maps marked "Nato Secret" flicker with streams of incoming data.
This is the Quick Reaction Force for Operation Azotize, Nato's Baltic Air Policing mission that guards the alliance's north-east borders where Russian aircraft regularly probe the boundaries of Nato territory.
Since April, the RAF's IX Squadron of Typhoon fighter jets has taken over the mission lead from Germany's historically-named Richthofen Squadron.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has forced the Nato military alliance to focus on securing its eastern borders. The aim is simple: to deter Russia from invading anywhere else, specifically a Nato country like one of the three Baltic states or Poland.
"Zombie" is code for a Russian aircraft acting suspiciously.
"That can usually be any one of three things," explains Wing Cdr Scott Maccoll from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. "Either it won't have filed a flight plan, or they're not squawking [communicating] or they're simply not responding to Air Traffic Control. Sometimes it's all three."
In this case, it turns out to be a false alarm as the Zombie turns north and away from Nato's borders.
Estonia's Amari airbase, where the Typhoons are based, used to be a Cold War Soviet Airforce site, and in the nearby forest, there is still a cemetery where Soviet pilots are buried along with the tailplanes of their old MiG-15s and MiG-17s.
Today the mission for these Nato pilots is both complicated and relentless. With Finland now joining Nato, the Baltic Sea is bordered by seven members of the Western alliance, soon to be eight when the way is cleared for Sweden to join.
But Russia still has two strategic footholds in the Baltic: its second city of St Petersburg to the east and its exclave of Kaliningrad, the former Prussian city of Konigsberg and its hinterland, a place now bristling with missiles and other military hardware.
Russian Su-27 Flanker fighters, Airborne Command and Control aircraft, and cargo planes all fly continually up and down the Baltic between those two bases and beyond, keeping Nato's air forces constantly on their toes.
"So we could be sat there, feet up on the table, having a cup of coffee, and then the next minute the alarm sounds," says one of the younger Typhoon pilots, who asks not to be named.
"We respond to any alarm as if it's the real deal. So we run to the aircraft, don our kit, get the engines going, strapped in, speak to the Tower, speak to Operations on the radios, get our clearance and then we taxi out and get airborne as quick as we can."
Inside the hangars, another pilot approaches one of the Typhoons. They're armed and "on state", ready to scramble if needed.
Wing Cdr Rich Leask points to a long, sleek missile fixed to the side of the fuselage. "This is the Meteor," he says. "It's been in service operationally since 2018. At the front end, it's got its own radar seeker head, at the rear it's got its own propulsion with a Ramjet."
Other, smaller missiles designed for short-range dogfights in the air sit menacingly on the wingtips.
So what actually happens when pilots get up close with these Russian Zombies? Presumably, nobody wants to start losing off missiles and set off World War Three?
"Our role here is to protect Nato airspace," replies Wing Cdr Maccoll, adding cryptically "our Rules of Engagement are classified".
Another pilot is slightly more forthcoming. "We don't know what aircraft we're going to go and intercept. So we pull up alongside, we identify the aircraft and then we get further words, further mission sets from the Ops Centre and we respond to what they tell us to do."
What I do know is that these RAF pilots take a lot of photographs of the Zombies, good ones too, as they come up alongside and escort them past Nato airspace.
"We have conducted eight interception missions," says Wing Cdr Maccoll. "All of those have been against Russian aircraft… We've been doing Baltic air policing for a number of years but there's no doubt that Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine last year has changed the dynamic here."
Things have changed on the ground, too, where there is a new urgency to put in place enough land forces to deter any future Russian incursion.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who grew up as a child in the Soviet Union, tells me she has no doubt that if President Putin's invasion of Ukraine were to eventually succeed then it would only be a matter of time before he turned his attention to the Baltic states.
As part of Nato's policy of "enhanced forward presence" in those Baltic states and Poland, there is a British-led multinational Battle Group based at Tapa in northern Estonia. Challenger 2 main battle tanks, Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, Wildcat and Apache helicopters, and even a Company of French Foreign Legionnaires are all intended to act as a deterrent to any moves by Moscow.
"Nato's challenge here in the Baltics," says Brig Giles Harris, who commands Operation Cabrit, Britain's contribution in Estonia, "is to deter Russia without escalating."
The numbers, though, are tiny compared to the vast forces that Russia can muster across the border in normal times. There has been a reluctant admission that Nato's deterrent force in Estonia would essentially act as a "tripwire", triggering rapid reinforcement while Russian forces advanced westwards.
Does Nato have enough forces in place?
"The Battle Groups [in the Baltics] should be enough of a deterrent," says Brig Harris. "If that fails then we're done.
"If Russia invades, then we go east and fight them."
Source- BBC
Leaders call for community intervention to steer children away from violence
Against the backdrop of the pattern of violence in schools, including attacks on students and teachers, the police, teachers' union and parents association believe more can be done collectively to stem the problem from reaching the learning environment.
Corporal Andrew Williams, national safe schools coordinator at the Community, Safety and Security Branch (CSSB); president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), La Sonja Harrison; and president of the National Parent Teachers' Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) Stewart Jacobs told the Jamaica Observer last week that early intervention in homes and communities is a solution to steer children away from violence before it reaches to schools.
Corporal Williams told the Observer that partnership between the police, community groups and schools to engage parents, students and teachers has been beneficial.
"One of the approaches we have in tackling it [violence] when the new school year [starts], is that you would have most of the parents coming in for that orientation. We try to engage the parents from there as also we speak to the National Parenting Commission and we try out best to engage from there, so even though we are in the schools, it [violence] started from in the community," he said.
"We also have from the CSSB our neighbourhood watch… because we know some of the parents are there, we try to get some of the messages across to the same parents because we think, with a safer community, we will have safer schools. We try to get through to them [parents and children] on every single occasion," added Corporal Williams.
Harrison, meanwhile, has called for community interaction from groups, including the Church, to guide children away from violence.
"We have a challenge on our hands and all hands are needed on deck to really treat with the violence and at the heart of it, how do we plan as a nation to support parenting and caring. Perhaps the parents want to reach out to the community again by virtue of the Church and send their children to Sunday and Sabbath school because that used to be another area of great support and help for parents to rear their children," she said.
Jacobs pointed to a similar sentiment as he went further to highlight the influence of gangs on children.
"Children are products of our society and if they live in a violent environment, they will continue to play it out in schools. We have found out that there are gangs in schools and these gangs migrate from the community where the children live," he said.
"The violence in schools starts from the community, it moves into the schools… What needs to be done is that from a collective national level with all the stakeholders involved [including] the Ministry of National Security, policing, social workers, the churches need to get together now and address it in a holistic way," added Jacobs.
Harrison pointed out that some schools are under-resourced and have inadequate guidance counsellors.
"Much of what school has to contend with really doesn't start at school either, it starts from in the community and it spills over and manifests in school. Schools that are already under-resourced be it with the number of teachers, who are supposed to be on staff or be it the absence of a guidance counsellor," she said.
"We recently saw a school in Independence City, Portmore, calling for an additional guidance counsellor. They have a population of 1,160 odd students and they had two guidance counsellors. Now they are down to one.
"Do the math. Let us say half of that population need no intervention, you have the [other half] who are in need of some kind of attention from the guidance counsellor. Now you expect one human being to be able to treat with all of that," she stressed.
"And the story does not get any better, because some schools, especially the smaller ones, have a cluster-based guidance counsellor, so they don't have one on the ground every day. That person may just come two or three times for the week," added Harrison.
Last October Education Minister Fayval Williams outlined a plan to reduce the level of violence in schools by 50 per cent by November 2023 — but that will need the active participation of all Jamaicans.
"This is a mammoth task that cannot just be left to the 1,198 guidance counsellors, our 139 deans of discipline, or the 41 senior teachers who act as deans of discipline, or the 257 school resources officers — which is another way of saying police officers — who we have in our schools," she said.
A United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 2018 situation analysis showed that approximately 80 per cent or 300,000 of Jamaica's children experience some form of physiological or physical violence administered as a discipline.
The study also found that approximately 65 per cent of students are bullied at school and that 79 per cent witness violence in the home or community.
The prevalence of attacks on students and teachers is oftentimes viral as videos of the incidents surface on social media.
The role of good parenting, however, continues to be highlighted as one of the most critical ways to steer children away from violence.
Corporal Williams said that although the police interact with children in schools, parents should play a greater role.
"We ask the school administration to invite us when they are having your parent-teacher meeting, through our neighbourhood watches we get the messages to the parents within the community and through our police youth club programmes we get the news out to the students and also the parents.
"But without the parents' intervention we are going to have it very hard, so we have been making gains and with greater gains, I think we will have a safer school environment," he said.
Added Jacobs: "Our workshops are very engaging where each participant is able to speak of his/her experience with solutions and the outcome, it is also very eye-opening because we are able to listen to what has caused this child to want to fight or maim the other child. Coming out of that you realise that a lot of the parents are oblivious to what is happening," he said.
"We have offered ourselves as mentors. We have done projects with schools that are having problems [violence] to give them support as parents to speak to parents having the issues and that also involves teachers and students," Jacobs said.
Source- JamaicaObserver
LeBron James considers LA Lakers future
LeBron James says he has "a lot to think about" after the Los Angeles Lakers were knocked out of the NBA playoffs by the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers were beaten 4-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals by the Denver Nuggets.
It leaves the Lakers without a trophy for the third consecutive season, while James' post-game comments have fuelled talk he could be set to retire.
"We'll see what happens going forward. I don't know," said James, 38.
"I've got a lot to think about, to be honest."
The star forward is arguably the biggest name in the sport after 20 seasons in the league, during which time he has set numerous records.
The four-time NBA champion won two titles with the Miami Heat before leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the only NBA title in their history in 2016.
He then guided the Lakers to the 2020 crown - the fourth time he was named Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The two-time Olympic champion has also won four regular season MVP titles and appeared in the NBA Finals 10 times.
In February, he became the NBA's all-time leading scorer, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's long-standing record of 38,387, set in 1989.
But after Monday's defeat, in which he scored 31 points in the first half and finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, he described the season as "challenging".
"I don't know. I think it was OK. I don't like to say it's a successful year because I don't play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career," he said.
"I don't get a kick out of making a conference [finals] appearance. I've done it, a lot. And it's not fun to me to not be able to be a part of getting to the Finals.
"For me, it's all about availability for me and keeping my mind sharp and things of that nature, being present on the floor, being present in the locker room and bus rides and plane rides, things of that nature. It's challenging.
"But we'll see. We'll see. We'll see what happens going forward."
James signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers last August to keep him at the club through the 2024-2025 season.
He has long said that he wants to extend his career in order to play with or against his eldest son Bronny, who will play college basketball next season at the University of Southern California and who could conceivably enter the NBA in time for the 2024-2025 campaign.
Speaking to the BBC's Newsday program, The Athletic's LA Lakers reporter Jovan Buha said James was "definitely hinting" at retirement.
"It was unprompted LeBron. He was asked to reflect on his season from an individual perspective and then trailed off to 'we will see' and 'I have a lot to think about'," said Buha.
"It was definitely hinting at retirement even if he didn't say it outright. I think it's really surprising because everything we have heard over the last year has been the opposite, where the talk has been about LeBron playing multiple years from now.
"Obviously he wants to play with or against his son Bronny James, who is going to USC and trying to make the NBA, so for LeBron to be saying that really came as a shock to many people.
"I don't think he's going to retire. There is so much evidence to the contrary that to me, maybe this was just a moment where he was venting and sharing his thoughts in real-time."
Source- BBC
Honda will become Aston Martin F1 team's engine partner
Aston Martin will be Honda’s sole Formula One engine partnership as teams are required to use more sustainable powerplants from 2026.
Honda Motor Co. will return to Formula One racing by supplying engines to Aston Martin's F1 team starting in 2026 and competing as Aston Martin Aramco Honda.
Honda officially withdrew from F1 in 2021 but the automaker has continued to provide engines to current world champions Red Bull, who have already announced a deal with Ford from 2026.
The start of the partnership will coincide with new F1 rules that require engines to be up to 50 percent electric and for cars to use fully-sustainable ethanol as fuel.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said F1's push for sustainability is in line with the company's carbon neutrality goals.
"The key for winning will be a compact, lightweight, and high-power electric motor with a high-performance battery capable of handling high and swift power output, as well as the energy management technology," he said.
"We believe that the technologies and know-how gained from this new challenge can potentially be applied directly to our future mass production electric vehicles, such as an electric flagship sports model, and electrification technologies in various areas," Mibe added.
"The partnership with Honda is the final piece in the jigsaw to establish Aston Martin Formula 1 as a top team capable of winning world titles," Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll said at a briefing at Honda’s Tokyo headquarters on Wednesday.
"We need to exploit every single area of our technical package and now a bespoke PU (power unit) is the important last step in that journey," he said.
Stroll has invested heavily, building a new factory and wind tunnel and recruiting top staff from rival teams while also attracting significant title sponsorship from Cognizant and Saudi Aramco.
Renault-owned Alpine, Audi, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains, and Red Bull Ford will be the other engine manufacturers from 2026.
Honda Racing Corp. President Koji Watanabe said the manufacturer had no plans to supply power units to other teams.
Honda's association with F1 stretches almost 60 years, from engine supplier to fully-fledged team. In 2021, Max Verstappen won the Drivers' Championship for Red Bull Racing Honda. Prior to that success, Honda had a short-lived partnership with McLaren from 2015 to 2017.
Source- Automotive News
Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are just best friends in new series, 'Platonic'
Can men and women be friends? 1989's “ When Harry Met Sally,” said no, but Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen disagree.
The pair co-star in the new Apple TV+ series “ Platonic,” debuting Wednesday, about longtime best friends who, as the title suggests, are just that. In fact, the actors had conversations early on to make sure the characters never cross a line.
“I honestly don’t like things about infidelity,” Rogen said in a recent interview. “I just don’t like it. That was something that I was like so clear (on) and something we talked about a lot... ’How do we signal to the audience, ‘That’s not a thing we have to worry about'? They can enjoy the show, laugh, and not have this nagging thing in the back of their heads of like, ‘Is she going to cheat on her husband with this guy?’”
Both Byrne and Rogen, who are each married, say they have longtime friends of the opposite sex.
“I have a lot of friendships with women that I've had for decades and decades and decades," he said. "I still am on a text chain with two girls who I went to an elementary school and summer camp with.”
Byrne recalls a “very intense” friendship she had with a male years ago when they were both struggling actors. The two were also roommates and leaned on each other, as friends do. What brought them comfort was a hot topic among outsiders.
“The number of people that could not believe that we were not together or hooking up or had hooked up or were going to hook up, it was extraordinary," she said, adding that they still share a bond.
“We’re still very, very close friends 20 years later, but it’s harder now. I have kids and a family; we live on other sides of the world.”
The conflict in “Platonic” arises because Rogen and Byrne's characters, Will and Sylvia, are rekindling their friendship after an argument created a yearslong wedge between them.
“They reunite in very different chapters in their life,” said Byrne.
Sylvia is happily married with three kids. Will is recently divorced and has more freedom. The will they-won't they trope is more about whether will they be able to be the kind of friends they once were after so much time has passed.
There's also an issue of how Will and Sylvia behave when they're together. They revert back to their younger selves, pulling pranks, staying out late, and partying. Sylvia's husband, Charlie, played by Luke Macfarlane, is envious that Sylvia is more carefree with Will, while their lives are cluttered with the things they have to do, not want to do. Will and Sylvia also argue about who is more stuck in middle age and not living up to their potential.
And while Billy Crystal's Harry in 1989's “When Harry Met Sally” was adamant that men and women can't be friends, relationship experts say it's a silly debate.
“It's kind of wild we’re even asking that question in 2023,” said Allison Raskin, a bestselling author and mental health advocate. Her book ”Overthinking About You: Navigating Romantic Relationships When You Have Anxiety, OCD, and/or Depression" addresses these topics.
“I don’t think that just because you happen to be attracted to whatever gender presentation the person you’re friends with has, that means there’s a romantic connection there or a sexual one."
Tara Ceranic Salinas is a professor and chair at the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business who studies ethics and behavior in a variety of settings. She cites a recent U.S. surgeon general's report that called loneliness an epidemic as a reason why friendships of all kinds are vital.
“If people really think men and women can’t be friends, you’re eliminating half of the population from your friend groups,” argued Salinas. "You're missing out on social connection, and it actually harms your health.”
The experts also argue that a romantic couple that doesn't allow for outside friendships is a signal of a problem.
“That says something about your relationship," said Raskin. “It says you think that your partner should be able to get everything they need from just you when we’ve really seen that’s not possible. It puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on couples to be everything and provide everything.”
Source- ABC News
Apple strikes major US-made semiconductor deal
Apple says it has struck a multi-billion dollar deal with chipmaker Broadcom to use more US-made parts.
Under the multi-year agreement, the two US companies will develop components for 5G devices that will be designed and manufactured in America.
Apple says the deal is part of a plan it announced in 2021 to invest $430bn (£346bn) in the US economy.
The move comes as a trade row centered on the technology industry intensifies between Washington and Beijing.
The long-running dispute has seen the US impose a series of measures against China's chip-making industry and invest billions of dollars to boost America's semiconductor sector.
In recent months, US tech giants have come under increased scrutiny from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers over their reliance on Chinese manufacturers and components.
Apple has been gradually diversifying its supply chains, with more of its devices now made in countries like India and Vietnam.
Last year, it said that it will buy semiconductors from a factory being built in the US state of Arizona by Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC.
In 2022, Apple also announced plans to make the iPhone 14 in India, a significant milestone in the company's strategy to diversify manufacturing outside of China.
The move expanded the company's Indian manufacturing operations - it has been making iPhones in the southern state of Tamil Nadu since 2017.
Last month, Apple launched its first Indian retail stores - in the financial hub Mumbai and the country's capital Delhi.
Under the latest deal, which expands the iPhone maker's existing relationship with Broadcom, components for Apple devices will be designed and built in Colorado and other parts of the US.
"We're thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of American manufacturing," Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement.
Tensions between the US and China have escalated in recent months.
Earlier this week, China said products made by US memory chip giant Micron Technology were a national security risk, in Beijing's first major move against a US chip maker.
The country's cyberspace regulator announced on Sunday that America's biggest maker of memory chips poses "serious network security risks".
Source- BBC
PSG want Silva to replace Messi
Manchester City's Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva, 28, is Paris St-Germain's top target as they look to replace 35-year-old Argentina forward Lionel Messi.
Arsenal are ready to offer West Ham a club record £90m for 24-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice, while Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka, 30, could be among the players sold by the Gunners.
Brighton's 21-year-old Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo is a key target for Arsenal as they plan to move early in the summer transfer market.
Napoli's South Korea defender Kim Min-jae, 26, has agreed to join Manchester United this summer after they agreed to pay his 50m euro (£43m) release clause.
Brighton's 24-year-old Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who has been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United, wants to join a Champions League club.
Prospective new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is set to hold talks with 24-year-old England midfielder Mason Mount over extending his contract, which expires in 2024.
Chelsea want Napoli's 24-year-old Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen as part of Pochettino's summer rebuild.
Barcelona are interested 26-year-old Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, but Wolves want at least £45m.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson, 75, is close to signing a new one-year contract.
Southampton's 28-year-old England midfielder James Ward-Prowse does not have a relegation release clause in his contract, but the club are expecting bids. Aston Villa, West Ham and Tottenham have expressed an interest.
Newcastle United's interest in RB Leipzig's 22-year-old Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who has a 70m euro (£61m) release clause in his contract, has intensified, but there has been no contact between the clubs.
Newcastle are interested in Chelsea's 23-year-old England midfielder Conor Gallagher and face competition from Tottenham for Leicester's England midfielder James Maddison.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund want 25-year-old Mexico midfielder Edson Alvarez, whom Ajax could be prepared to sell for £30m.
Manchester United's English defenders Phil Jones, 31, and Axel Tuanzebe, 25, are expected to be released this summer.
Manchester United are considering a move for Borussia Dortmund's 25-year-old Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, although the German club intend to offer him a new contract.
West Ham are looking to appoint a director of football to ease the demands on sporting director Mark Noble and reduce the influence of manager David Moyes.
West Ham are monitoring Valencia's 20-year-old United States midfielder Yunus Musah.
Brentford and Spain keeper David Raya, 27, is near the top of Tottenham's transfer list, with Frenchman Hugo Lloris, 36, expected to leave this summer.
Brentford could sign Freiburg's 29-year-old Netherlands goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who has a 13m euro (£11.3m) release clause in his contract.
Tottenham have held talks with Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto about their director of football role.
Source- BBC
Microsoft's Activision takeover approved by EU after UK veto
EU regulators have approved Microsoft's $69bn (£55bn) attempt to purchase Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard.
The European Commission (EC) said Microsoft had addressed their concerns on competition issues.
It comes three weeks after the UK blocked the deal over worries it would hurt competition in the emerging cloud gaming business.
The proposed takeover is poised to be the biggest deal in gaming history but has split global regulators.
In order for the deal to go through Microsoft and Activision need approval from regulatory bodies in the UK, EU and the US.
The US Federal Trace Commission filed a lawsuit in December to block the deal - a judge's decision is unlikely before the end of the year.
The EC have approved the acquisition, saying that Microsoft's offer of 10 year free licensing deals - which promise European consumers and cloud game streaming services access to Activision's PC and console games - mean there would be fair competition in the market.
"The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation," the EU competition watchdog said in a statement.
It said an in-depth market investigation indicated that Microsoft "would not be able to harm rival consoles and rival multi-game subscription services".
And it said cloud game streaming service providers "gave positive feedback and showed interest in the licenses", with some having already entered into agreements with Microsoft based on their proposals.
The deal is important for Microsoft who are trying to play catch-up with its main competitors Sony. They have been the more successful of the two in recent years when it comes to sales in the console market.
However, this attempted massive investment from Microsoft can been seen as a play for the future of games rather than its present. Microsoft is betting big on its Game Pass service, which can be described as a Netflix of games.
They think the future lies in players having subscriptions to libraries rather than making one off purchases - which is the predominant way of accessing games at the moment.
Their Game Pass offering is compelling but lacking the volume and caliber of new titles to fully transform the way most people play. This deal would give it control of some of the world's most popular games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch. Being in charge of titles like that could be a big boost to the service.
Cloud gaming is an extension of that principle allowing people to stream their game on any device they own - form a phone to a console or high-end PC. Just like watching Amazon Prime or Disney+ but with video games.
Currently this is a small and emerging part of the games industry because of the technological requirements of making it work. It is however seemingly growing with the number of people playing this way in the UK having tripled between 2021 and 2022 according to the CMA.
Microsoft have invested in this space and so combined with its Game Pass offering it is in a good position to lead the way, should cloud gaming go on to become a significant part of the industry.
That is why the CMA decided to block the decision in the UK, arguing it would put Microsoft in too dominant a position in this up-and-coming sector.
However many within the games industry have disagreed with their analysis - especially given how small the cloud gaming sector is in the grand scheme of things and given it is not be guaranteed to become the dominant way of accessing games in future.
Source- BBC
Man gets three years for accidentally killing best friend
A man who accidentally killed his best friend and then fled the scene in a panic has been sentenced to three years in prison.
A tearful Godfrey ‘Nico’ Brown learnt of his fate when he appeared before the St James Circuit Court last week. He was represented by attorneys-at-law Albert Morgan and Sherneika Jackson.
On April 20, Brown pleaded not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter, and guilty to illegal possession of firearm.
During the mitigation hearing last Thursday, Morgan emphasized Brown's attributes and antecedents, highlighting that the only aggravating factor was his possession of an illegal firearm, which ultimately led to a fatality.
High Court Justice Judith Pusey subsequently sentenced Brown to three years, five months and two weeks in prison on the firearm charge and two years five months and two weeks in prison on the charge of manslaughter. The sentences will run concurrently so he will end up serving the longer term.
According to court documents, the shooting occurred on October 26, 2022.
It is alleged that 18-year-old Nicardo Grey of Cornwall Courts was on the road in front of a friend's house at the complex when Brown, who had a firearm, went outside to greet him.
An explosion was heard and Brown was heard saying he never meant to shoot Grey and that he had been unaware that there was a bullet in the chamber of the gun.
Brown then fled the scene.
Shortly after, Grey was seen lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the right side of his face.
He was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Brown later turned himself in to the police.
Source- Jamaica Observer
HT- Jamaica, Accidental Death
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BUSINESS
- Elon Musk documents subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit
Elon Musk has been subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in a lawsuit accusing a Wall Street bank of enabling Jeffrey Epstein to sex traffic women.
It calls on the Tesla boss to hand over any documents showing communication between him, JP Morgan Chase bank and Epstein, who died in 2019.
Mr. Musk is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
On Monday, he also reiterated denials of suggestions that Epstein had provided him with financial advice.
Jeffrey Epstein died in jail in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The Virgin Islands is suing JP Morgan Chase for allegedly helping enable Epstein's alleged crimes.
Its case alleges trafficked women were sexually abused by Epstein and others on Little St. James, his private island in the territory.
The Virgin Islands government has accused the bank of not acting on warning signs about the alleged crimes. The bank has denied the allegations.
As part of the case, a court filing on Monday revealed the territory's authorities had tried to serve Mr. Musk, the multi-billionaire owner of Twitter, with the subpoena but had been unsuccessful.
"The Government [of the US Virgin Islands] contacted Mr. Musk's counsel via email to ask if he would be authorized to accept service on Mr. Musk's behalf in this matter, but did not receive a response confirming or denying his authority," the filing said.
The Virgin Islands also asked a Manhattan federal court judge to allow it to serve Mr. Musk with the subpoena with Tesla's registered agent.
Mr. Musk may have been referred to the Wall Street banking giant by Epstein, according to the court filing.
However, the Virgin Islands did not provide further explanation for its interest in obtaining documents from Mr. Musk.
Epstein, a financier, had been a client of JP Morgan from 2000 to 2013. Mr. Musk was also been a customer - with JP Morgan in charge of Tesla's commercial banking business for several years.
Mr. Musk tweeted on Monday that the suggestion that he taken advice from Epstein was "idiotic" and called the late financier a "dumb crook."
Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, moved in social circles that included Prince Andrew and former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as many key figures of the business world.
Prosecutors in 2019 accused him of running a "vast network" of underage girls for sex.
JP Morgan Chase has denied knowing about Epstein's crimes.
Source- BBC
Five men convicted of audacious 2019 heist
Five men have been found guilty of an audacious jewel heist in the German city of Dresden.
The thieves stole precious items worth €113m (£98m) from the city's state museum in 2019.
Police recovered many of the jewels, including a diamond encrusted sword, but it's feared the rest of the looted treasure may never be found.
The men, all members of a notorious criminal family network, face sentences of four to six years.
This was a meticulously planned heist. The gang, who lived in Berlin, visited the site several times and prepared their entry point in advance, using a hydraulic cutting machine to saw through the bars of a protective window covering before taping them back into place.
Then, in the early hours of the morning of 25 November 2019, they set fire to a circuit breaker panel near the museum, plunging the surrounding streets into darkness while two of the men slipped inside.
CCTV footage captured the thieves wearing masks and wielding axes as they entered the sumptuously decorated Gruenes Gewoelbe - or Green Vault - and smashed the glass display cases to get to the treasure.
The thieves then sprayed a foam fire extinguisher over the room to cover their tracks before making their getaway in an Audi which they then dumped in a car park, setting fire to the vehicle before they fled back to Berlin.
After a year-long investigation, police made their first arrests. All of those convicted today are members of the so called "Remmo clan". There are several "clans" in Germany; family networks with Arab roots responsible for major organized crime, including in recent years a raid on a department store and a bank robbery.
One of the Dresden thieves was previously convicted of the theft of a giant gold coin, which weighed 100kg (220lbs), from Berlin's Bode museum in 2017. The coin was never recovered and is believed to have been broken up or melted down.
"There are people who steal artworks out of passion for art, but this was really the opposite," says Marion Ackermann, general director of Dresden's State Art Collections. "They had no idea of what they had taken."
Initially there were fears that, like the golden coin, the treasure was lost forever.
But many of the stolen items were returned to the museum after three of the men confessed to the theft and agreed to divulge the location of the loot in return for lighter sentences as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Nevertheless, several pieces are still missing, including a very rare diamond called the White Stone of Saxony.
The items were part of a treasure trove collected in the 18th Century by Augustus the Strong, the Elector of Saxony. He not only amassed pieces covered in diamonds and precious stones but designed the Green Vault in which to display them.
Professor Ackermann says that the loss of part of the collection was particularly painful because Augustus' concept then, as now, was that a visitor should see the whole ensemble together and be overwhelmed by the variety of colours and stones.
The audacity of the heist shocked the art world. But the break-in also raised questions about the adequacy of the museum's security measures.
Even one of the thieves expressed surprise during the trial that they'd been able to saw through window bars apparently without detection, despite the noise generated by their cutting equipment.
Professor Ackermann, who emphasised that responsibility for the security concept at the museum was shared between Dresden's State Art Collection and another regional body, insisted that the security system was one of the best in Germany.
But, she added, "many aspects come together in a security system. The building, the organisation, and also technical aspects. And, like in a chain, every aspect must work and, in this case, many things didn't work."
She says that a system designed to scan the outer walls of the museum had failed, and that guards sitting in the central security room, who saw events unfold on their monitors, were slow to call the police.
Police opened an investigation into four security guards at the museum on suspicion that they had helped with preparations and reacted too slowly to the break in itself, but officers ended those enquiries last year.
Today the security system has been overhauled and museum staff have turned their attention to the restoration of the jewels.
Experts are optimistic that Augustus' treasure can be brought back to its former glory and, eventually, go back on public display.
But curators are resigned to the loss of the rest of the trove, and accept that it's unlikely the collection will ever be whole again.
Source- BBC