RIGHT WING RALLY

Motorcycles rumble through Canadian capital under police eye


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WEARING A NAZI STYLE HELMET

Demonstrators on motorcycles ride near the National War Memorial, part of a convoy-style protest participants are calling "Rolling Thunder" in Ottawa, Ontario, on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

 (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP)


OTTAWA (AP) — Motorcycles rumbled through the streets of Canada’s capital city Saturday while a strong police presence kept a close eye on a couple of rallies during the “Rolling Thunder” protest.

Many of the protesters involved in a morning service at the National War Memorial and a later rally on Parliament Hill were also involved in the “Freedom Convoy” that shuttered downtown Ottawa for weeks in February.

Police made a handful of arrests Saturday, including a driver who allegedly tried to jump onto a sidewalk to get around officers. Police arrested the person for dangerous driving and found them in breach of their bail conditions related to the previous protest, when they were ordered not to return to Ottawa.

Ottawa By-law and Regulatory Services said more than 560 tickets have been handed out for parking violations, smoking, noise and encumbering a highway, and 39 vehicles have been towed since Friday morning.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the National War Memorial which was a focal point during the early days of the February protests.

Supporters watched retired Afghanistan veteran Christopher Deering lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a quasi-remembrance ceremony.

Other speakers expressed their opposition to vaccine mandates, COVID-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. Supporters were asked to remove slogans with expletives aimed at the prime minister for the event.

A small group of counter-protesters gathered across the street from the memorial chanting ``go home″ at the protesters.

Police formed a line in between the two groups to keep the peace.

At the end of the service, the crowd marched down Elgin Street to greet a convoy of around 150 motorcycles traveling on a route outlined by police.

Police stopped the motorcycle convoy two blocks from the National War Memorial, and had the motorcyclists travel back out of the core on a designated route.

Later, protesters gathered on Parliament Hill. Some danced on the street in front of parliament shouting ``freedom!″

The protest in February lasted three weeks, as big-rigs and other trucks embedded themselves in front of Parliament Hill and set up encampments that blocked traffic. The federal government invoked the Emergencies Act in an effort to dislodge them and similar protesters who blockaded border crossings.

This weekend Ottawa police called in more than 800 reinforcements from RCMP and other police services who blocked off highway exits and every street into the core to prevent a new encampment from forming.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said police took ``a strong stance″ to prevent the kind of prolonged demonstration that gripped Ottawa in February.

Saturday’s events were relatively peaceful compared to an altercation between police and protesters Friday evening, when officers arrested seven people and faced off with what they described as an ``aggressive crowd″ just outside the parliamentary precinct.

Dems hone populist appeal with proposed stock trading ban

By KEVIN FREKING

The U.S. Capitol on a sunny morning, April 27, 2022, in Washington. 

(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Rep. Abigail Spanberger first introduced a bill banning stock trading by members of Congress and their families, the Virginia Democrat managed to get only eight co-sponsors. So far this session, 62 — or about one out of every seven House members — have signed on.

It’s a similar story in the Senate. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., a once lonely voice on the issue, had just one co-sponsor for his proposed stock trading ban in the last two congressional sessions. Now, he has nine.

The uptick in support reflects a growing lawmaker appetite to tighten the rules around trading after several members faced heavy scrutiny for their stock transactions during the pandemic. While there’s no guarantee any of the proposals will become law, many lawmakers facing the toughest reelection races have embraced the legislation, elevating the ethics issue as a talking point — and potential point of attack — for the midterm campaigns.

Even with voters focused on issues like inflation and the war in Ukraine, Spanberger said the trading ban comes up time and again when she meets with constituents.

“No matter where I am, somebody brings it up,” said Spanberger, who is among those lawmakers facing a difficult reelection bid.

But it’s not clear sailing. Other lawmakers, particularly Republicans, are skeptical and raising concerns about the merits of such a ban and the logistics of enforcing it. And while congressional leaders say they are open to the proposals, there are doubts from some lawmakers about whether that will translate to action.

“The headwind is that some members of Congress don’t want to abide by these rules, and some of those members are in leadership,” Spanberger said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., initially said she did not support a stock trading ban back in December. “We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that,” she told reporters. But in February she announced she was open to one. “It’s complicated, and members will figure it out. And then we’ll go forward with what the consensus is,” she said.

Under current law, members of Congress and government employees must report the sale and purchases of stocks, bonds, commodity futures and other securities no more than 30 days after learning they were made and within 45 days of a transaction exceeding $1,000.

But lawmakers have been routinely late in filing such notices, and in some cases didn’t file at all, leading to a flurry of complaints to the House Ethics Committee.

During a House hearing on the issue in April, Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., said it’s clear the current disclosure laws aren’t working as intended. But he characterized the violations as mostly inadvertent.

Davis said he’s heard little from constituents about the stock trading and worries that requiring lawmakers to put assets in a blind trust would prove inordinately expensive for many lawmakers. Still, he’s open to finding a compromise “that doesn’t encourage the ultra wealthy to be only ones to run for Congress.”

Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., went further. He said Americans have the “right and freedom to participate in a free and fair market economy.”

“It’s not going to make a difference to me personally, but it does make a difference to me as an American citizen,” he said.

Watchdog groups warned at the hearing that public disclosure of stock trades has failed to deter lawmakers from owning and trading stocks in companies subject to their oversight, eroding voter trust.

California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the Democratic chair of the House Administration Committee who has been reviewing the various trading bills introduced, said this week she was “hopeful” of getting a bill through her committee. But she also said “it’s way more complicated than I understood when I first started looking at it.”

Support for the trading ban is bipartisan. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, co-authored the bill with Spanberger, but the vast majority of co-sponsors of the various bills are Democrats. That includes progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Several Democrats facing tough reelection battles have also signed on as co-sponsors. The list includes Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Angie Craig of Minnesota, Kim Schrier of Washington, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Tom Malinowski of New Jersey.

Malinowski is under an Ethics Committee investigation after the Office of Congressional Ethics determined there was substantial reason to believe he failed to properly disclose stocks that he purchased or sold. Malinowski said his trading activity was conducted by a third-party investment manager without his involvement. He has since established a qualified blind trust to manage his investments. But Republicans have made the trades and the ethics investigation an issue as they try to win back Malinowski’s New Jersey seat.

Slotkin said she was elected in 2018 after promising not to accept donations from corporate political action committees. She called it a defining issue in that race, and she views the proposed trading ban as an extension of that effort.

“Anything that we can do to clean up the perception about elected officials is good for democracy,” Slotkin said.

She said she shares Spanberger’s concern that Pelosi doesn’t consider the stock trading ban a priority.

“When the speaker wants something to get done, it gets done. When she doesn’t want it to get done, you have to fight to get it on the agenda, and that is the place where we are at,” Slotkin said.

In the Senate, 13 Democratic lawmakers, but no Republicans, have signed onto a bill from Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia that would require lawmakers and their spouses and children to place their securities in a blind trust. Three Democratic senators viewed as having the toughest reelection races this year are co-sponsors: Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.

Larry Parnell, director of the strategic public relations program at George Washington University, said Democratic candidates have had a muddled message going into the midterms because “they’re sort of halfway in, halfway out on certain elements of the Biden agenda.” But he believes the stock trading ban is one idea “that everyone can get behind.”

“Its a win-win situation for anyone looking for a populist message to bring to the market,” Parnell said.

102 marathons in 102 days: Amputee’s unofficial world record

By WILLIAM J. KOLE and ROSS D. FRANKLIN

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Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. 

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)


GILBERT, Ariz. (AP) — As Forrest Gump in the Oscar-winning 1994 film of the same name, lead actor Tom Hanks abruptly trots to a halt after more than three years of nonstop running and tells his followers: “I’m pretty tired — I think I’ll go home now.”

Jacky Hunt-Broersma can relate. On Thursday, the amputee athlete achieved her goal of running 102 marathons in as many days, setting an unofficial women’s world record.

And she can’t stop/won’t stop, saying she’ll run two more for good measure and wrap up her challenge on Saturday with 104. “I might as well end April with a marathon,” she told The Associated Press.

Britain-based Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. It can take up to a year for the organization to ratify a world record.

Guinness lists the men’s record for consecutive daily marathons as 59, set in 2019 by Enzo Caporaso of Italy.

“I’m just happy that I made it — I can’t believe it,” she said. “The best thing was the incredible support I’ve received from people around the world who’ve reached out, telling me how this has inspired them to push themselves.”

Hunt-Broersma, 46, began her quest on Jan. 17, covering the classic 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) marathon distance on a loop course laid out near her home in Gilbert, Arizona, or on a treadmill indoors. Since then, it’s been “rinse and repeat” every day for the South Africa native, who lost her left leg below the knee to a rare cancer and runs on a carbon-fiber prosthesis.

Her original goal was to run 100 marathons in 100 days so she’d beat the record of 95 set in 2020 by Alyssa Amos Clark, a nondisabled runner from Bennington, Vermont, who took it on as a pandemic coping strategy. But earlier this month, after nondisabled British runner Kate Jayden unofficially broke Clark’s record with 101 marathons in 101 days, Hunt-Broersma realized she’d need to run at least 102.



On foot, day in and day out, she’s covered 2,672 miles (4,300 kilometers) — the equivalent of running from her Phoenix suburb to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, or from New York City to Mexico City.

Along the way, Hunt-Broersma gained a huge social media following and raised nearly $27,000 to help fellow amputee blade runners get the expensive prostheses they need. Health insurance typically doesn’t cover the cost, which can exceed $10,000.

Hunt-Broersma, who ran her 92nd at this month’s Boston Marathon, hopes her quest will inspire people everywhere to push themselves to do hard things.

What’s next for the endurance athlete? A 240-mile (386-kilometer) ultra race to be staged over mountainous terrain in October in Moab, Utah.

___

Kole reported from Boston.

CANADIAN, EH
First ‘Jeopardy!’ Gen Z super champ’s streak hits 19 games

April 29, 2022

This image released by Sony Pictures Television shows Mattea Roach, a 23-year-old Canadian contestant on the game show "Jeopardy!" 

(Tyler Golden/Sony Pictures Television via AP)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Reigning “Jeopardy!” champion Mattea Roach represents a new generation of the quiz show’s all-star players.

As of Friday, the 23-year-old Canadian has won 19 games and amassed USD$469,184 in prize money, putting her among the top 10 contestants for both consecutive victories and regular-season winnings in “Jeopardy!” history.

Roach, who begins her fifth week of competition Monday, is in the company of veteran standout players including Ken Jennings, who’s currently hosting the show, and this season’s champs Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio.

“The fact that I’m now one of the best players of all time hasn’t fully sunk in yet. It doesn’t really feel real,” said Roach, the first Gen Zer to be dubbed a “super champion” by the show for achieving a double-digit string of wins. (Generation Z generally refers to those born from 1997 to 2012.)

A tutor for aspiring law school students, and perhaps one herself, she plays with a breezy confidence. Roach is relaxed enough to casually think out loud about her approach, as she did when she hit a crucial Double Jeopardy last Wednesday.

“You know what, if I wager a lot and lose today, like whatever, I had such a good run,” Roach mused, then successfully wagered a hefty $8,000 and ended up taking the game from formidable challenger Ben Hsia of Fremont, California.

The category was anatomy, the clue was “To gently tease another person,” and Roach’s slightly exasperated response: “I should have wagered more. What is ‘rib’?”

Besides conservative bets, her play has been distinguished by the broad range of knowledge and buzzer command that “Jeopardy!” champs have. Athletic skill doesn’t contribute to the latter, said Roach, who admits that sports isn’t a favored category.

Among her trademarks are an engaging smile and demure wave to the camera at the start of a game; tattoos including Talking Heads song lyrics, and attire that’s on the serious side but with a touch of personal flair. For a recent interview, however, she paired a T-shirt with denim.

“There’s no denim on ‘Jeopardy!’” Roach said, helpfully. As for her on-camera wardrobe, it’s all clothes she already owned — “I hate shopping,” she said — and which she figured would send the right message.

“I wanted to be comfortable, I wanted to look professional and I wanted to express my personality, and I think I accomplished that,” she said.

A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who lives in Toronto, Roach credits her love of learning to her mother, Patti MacKinnon, an auditor, and her father, Phil Roach, who works in human resources. Mattea Roach began reading at age 3, skipped a grade in elementary school and enrolled at the University of Toronto when she was 16.

After mom and dad helped pay for the first two years of college, Roach put herself through the rest.

“I have three younger siblings at home, and even with them (her parents) both working there’s only so much money to go around,” she said. “I figured I can work, so why would I not be?”

She majored in sexual diversity studies and earned minors in political science and women and gender studies. The school’s debate program helped her gain poise and tackle unfamiliar subjects, presumably helpful training for “Jeopardy!” — and maybe politics.

As a youngster, Roach said, she had a vague interest in the “workings of government” and, while she’s retained an interest in it, she realized it wouldn’t be a good fit. Despite the flurry of media and online attention that “Jeopardy!” has brought, “I’m actually a very private person, and I prefer to have a relatively more normal job,” she said.

She was applying to law school when “Jeopardy!” summoned her to be a contestant. Her success and that of Amodio (38 wins, $1.52 million) and Schneider (40 wins, $1.38 million) has made the show’s 2021-22 season a memorable one.

Roach mentioned on air that she would be able to pay off her student loans after her first win. What is she planning to do as the sum has grown?

“I’m so boring. I don’t want to splurge on anything,” she said.

Roach intends to invest the windfall for her future, although some of it will go toward realizing travel plans derailed by the pandemic. Another possible indulgence occurred to her.

“I hopefully will not be afraid of buying concert tickets anymore,” she said.

Ford cutting hundreds of engineering jobs after $3.1 billion loss in Q1


The job reductions were reported on the same day that Ford said it earned $34.5 billion in revenues in the first quarter, but posted a net loss of $3.1 billion. 

File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

April 28 (UPI) -- Ford is cutting out hundreds of engineering jobs in the United States in order to seek out new talent, the automaker said on the same day that it reported a first-quarter loss of more than $3 billion.

The company announced the cuts on Wednesday and said they would come in its engineering division, although it didn't specify whether those losses would occur at its Detroit-area facilities.

The total number of job cuts will be 580, Ford said. Most will involve salaried employees and the rest are agency positions.

Ford employs close to 90,000 workers in the United States and has 182,000 employees worldwide. Ford CEO Jim Farley has said previously that the company needs "totally different talent."

The job cuts were reported on the same day that Ford issued first-quarter earnings, which noted a $3.1 billion net loss for the January-March period. The loss comes primarily from devaluation of its investment in electric vehicle maker Rivian, the company said.

In its earnings report, the automaker said it made $34.5 billion in revenues and sold 966,000 vehicles in the first quarter, a decline of almost 10% over the first quarter of 2021.

Nonetheless, Ford said that it remains on target to achieve production goals for the rest of 2022.

The job cuts came one day after Ford launched its Ford F-150 Lightning, the automaker's first fully electric F-150. It began rolling off assembly lines nearly two months after the company announced plans to separate its traditional and electric vehicle operations. Ford said it's so far made about 2,000 of the trucks and will begin deliveries soon.

President Joe Biden previewed the F-150 Lightning during a tour of Ford's Dearborn, Mich., plant a year ago -- famously taking the pickup for a quick spin and concluding, "This sucker's quick."

The automaker said that demand for the electric F-150 is high with 200,000 preorders.

Justice Dept. challenges Alabama law criminalizing certain transgender youth care

April 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a complaint challenging a new Alabama law that criminalizes medical care for transgender youth, citing the 14th Amendment.

Alabama's Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 184 into law earlier this month, which criminalizes hormone therapy or puberty blocking medication or surgeries that affirm the gender identity of transgender minors.

A violation of the new law is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fine of up to $15,000.

The Justice Department alleges in the complaint that this state ban discriminates against transgender youth by denying them access to certain forms of medically necessary care in violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protect Clause.

RELATED Parents ask court to overturn Alabama law denying their transgender kids healthcare

The state law, set to take effect on May 8, also requires school nurses, counselors, teachers and principals not to "withhold from the minor's parent or legal guardian information related to a minor's perception that his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with his or her sex."

Senate Bill 184 "denies necessary medical care to children based solely on who they are," and "threatens criminal prosecution and jail time to doctors, parents, and anyone else who provides or 'causes' that care," according to the Justice Department's statement.

The Justice Department called for the court to issue an immediate order to prevent the law from going into effect.

RELATED Alabama lawmakers pass controversial bills on transgender youth

Late last month, the Justice Department also issued a letter to all state attorneys reminding them of federal constitutional and statutory provisions that protect transgender youth against discrimination.

Parents of four transgendered children in Alabama, joined by two doctors and a reverend, recently asked a federal judge to overturn the law before it goes into effect next month.

In the lawsuit filed earlier this month, the plaintiffs said that the law should be overturned because it unconstitutionally denies parents the right to make decisions for their children, and discriminates against children for being transgender.

Kansas legislators uphold governor's vetos on controversial bills

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed two bills earlier this month that she described as being were more political than substantive. Photo courtesy of Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly/Website


April 29 (UPI) -- Kansas state lawmakers have upheld Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of two controversial Republican-led bills to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls sports and allow parents to object to any school material they deem is contrary to their beliefs.

Both bills died Thursday in the state's House as they failed to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to overturn Kelly's vetos.

"Compassion wins today," Democratic state Rep. Brandon Woodard tweeted.

Kelly vetoed the bills earlier this month after they were sent to her desk amid a push by Republican-controlled states to pass similar legislation.

RELATED Parents ask court to overturn Alabama law denying their transgender kids healthcare

Senate Bill 160, dubbed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, sought to bar transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams at all public, secondary and post-secondary institutions, and was passed by both the state Senate and House earlier this month.

Kelly had object to the bill, stating both Republican and Democratic governors have veto similar bills that had reached their desks as they are harmful to students, families, and businesses.

She said everyone wants sports to be fair but accused the bill of not being based on the opinions of experts but on those of politicians seeking to score political points

"This bill would also undoubtedly harm our ability to attract and retain businesses," she said on vetoing the bill earlier this month. "It would send a signal to prospective companies that Kansas is more focused on unnecessary and divisive legislation than strategic, pro-growth lawmaking."

Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, thanked Kelly for the veto and the legislators for supporting it.

"This harmful legislation has no place in Kansas or any other state," Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at HRC, said in a statement. "Kansans deserve better than legislators who bully transgender youth -- youth who pose no threat and just want to play sports with their friends."

RELATED Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs measure restricting discussion of race in classrooms

The other bill that died Thursday was Senate Bill 58, the so-called the Parents Bill of Rights, that would have allowed parents to challenge school curriculum for removal if they deem material to cause harm to their child or impair "the parent's firmly held beliefs, values or principles."

In vetoing it, Kelly had said parents should play a role in their children's education, but this bill "is about politics, not parents."

"Over 100 Kansas parents testified against this bill. It would create more division in our schools and would be costly," she said. "Money that should be spent in the classroom would end up being spent in the courtroom."

Lawsuit says USPS didn't do proper environmental review for vehicle purchase plan


The U.S. Postal Service plans to make at least 10% of its vehicle fleet electric. 

File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

April 28 (UPI) -- The attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia, plus environmental activist groups have sued the U.S. Postal Service over its plans to replace the vast majority of its fleet with vehicles that burn fossil fuels.

The suit, filed Wednesday, said the plan doesn't comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to conduct environmental reviews before making major decisions.

According to the lawsuit, the USPS expects to replace 90% of its fleet of more than 212,000 vehicles with fossil fuel-powered, internal combustion engine vehicles. The plaintiffs said the plans rely on a flawed environmental analysis and miscalculations.

"The Postal Service has a historic opportunity to invest in our planet and in our future. Instead, it is doubling down on outdated technologies that are bad for our environment and bad for our communities," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

"Once this purchase goes through, we'll be stuck with more than 100,000 new gas-guzzling vehicles on neighborhood streets, serving homes across our state and across the country, for the next 30 years. There won't be a reset button. We're going to court to make sure the Postal Service complies with the law and considers more environmentally friendly alternatives before it makes this decision."

The lawsuit calls for the USPS to set aside its environmental review because it signed contracts with a defense contractor to procure the vehicles before the review was done. The plaintiffs said the agency "arbitrarily" declined to consider a greater percentage of EVs, and failed to properly consider air equality, environmental justice and climate impacts of the purchase.

The USPS holds the federal government's largest and oldest vehicle fleet. It completed an environmental review of plans to modernize the fleet in February, announcing plans to incorporate thousands of electric vehicles. The plan calls for the overall fleet mix to be at least 10% EVs, with more added as financial resources become available.

RELATED Biden signs law to reform U.S. Postal Service

Kim Frum, a spokeswoman for the USPS, told UPI the agency placed an initial order for 10,019 battery electric vehicles and that its contract allows it to order more EVs over the next 10 years.

"The Postal Service conducted a robust and thorough review and fully complied with all of our obligations under NEPA," she said.

"The Postal Service is fully committed to the inclusion of electric vehicles as a significant part of our delivery fleet even though the investment will cost more than an internal combustion engine vehicle. That said, as we have stated repeatedly, we must make fiscally prudent decisions in the needed introduction of a new vehicle fleet."

'Extremely' rare 15-carat blue diamond sells at auction for almost $60 million




The De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond is seen at Sotheby's in New York City on February 15. Before the auction, Sotheby's estimated that the step-cut gem could fetch as much as $48 million. The final price was roughly $10 million higher. 

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

April 28 (UPI) -- A 15-carat blue diamond found in South Africa last year -- the largest diamond of that color ever put up for auction -- has sold for close to $60 million, blowing past even the top-end estimates for the gem.

Sotheby's in Hong Kong said that the De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond sold to an anonymous buyer over the telephone on Wednesday for $57.47 million.

The sale featured a bidding war between two buyers that lasted for eight minutes before the final hammer came down.

Before the auction, Sotheby's estimated that the step-cut gem could fetch as much as $48 million. The final price was roughly $10 million higher.


Blue diamonds are among the rarest of all colored diamonds. The blue hue is normally caused by small amounts of boron within the crystal structure. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

The Cullinan Blue gemstone is the largest internally flawless vivid blue diamond that the Gemological Institute of America has ever graded, the auctioneer said. The GIA says it's given its top color grading -- "fancy vivid blue" -- to no more than 1% of blue diamonds it evaluates.

The stone was cut from an exceptional rough stone mined in South Africa a year ago.

Sotheby's says that blue diamonds with the size and quality of the De Beers diamond are "exceptionally rare." Only five other diamonds larger than 10 carats ever have come to auction and none exceeded 15 carats. The De Beers stone is 15.10 carats.

The De Beers stone barely missed setting a sales record for blue diamonds. The record-holder is the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue diamond, which sold for $57.5 million six years ago.

Blue diamonds are among the rarest of all colored diamonds. The blue hue is normally caused by small amounts of boron within the crystal structure. This differs entirely from pink diamonds, which get their color from distortions within the lattice structure. Diamonds can exhibit a number of colors -- including orange, yellow, green and brown -- and most get their color from small amounts of chemicals inside.

Ukraine says Russian forces looted Melitopol museum of Scythian gold

The Golden Pectoral, a neckpiece, is an ancient Scythian artifact found in a burial kurgan at a site in southern Ukraine in 1971. 

Photo courtesy D. Kolosov/Wikimedia

April 30 (UPI) -- Russian forces stormed the Melitopol Museum of Local History and stole rare Scythian gold artifacts, according to officials in Ukraine.

"The orcs have taken hold of our Scythian gold," Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov said, according to Ukrinform -- the nation's information and news agency.

"This is one of the largest and most expensive collections in Ukraine, and today we don't know where they took it, whether it was hidden or stolen. We don't know about its fate, but of course this gold has been stolen from our community, and I hope that we will be able to get it back."

Leila Ibrahimova, the director of the Melitopol Museum of Local History, told The New York Times that Russian forces had kidnapped a museum caretaker at gunpoint and ordered her to show them the artifacts that the museum had hidden earlier in the invasion.

A "mysterious man" in a white lab coat was with the troops when they showed up at the museum on Wednesday and used special gloves to steal the ancient artifacts from the cardboard boxes where they had been stashed in the museum's cellar, The New York Times reported.

In all, Russian troops looted at least 198 gold items, rare old weapons, centuries-old silver coins and special medals, Ibrahimova said.

Ibrahimova herself was kidnapped by Russian forces in mid-March, according to a press release at the time from the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv.

"The occupiers are purposefully repressing representatives of Ukrainian culture, intimidating Ukrainians, and threatening the most active ones," the Holodomor Museum alleged in its statement.

Ibrahimova was questioned and released after she and other museum staff members had tried to hide the precious artifacts in the cellar when control of the city was taken by Russian forces.

"We knew that any second someone could come into the museum with a weapon," she said. "We hid everything but somehow they found it."

The Scythians were nomadic people that migrated from Iran to southern Russia and Ukraine around 800 B.C.E. and an empire centered in what is now Crimea, the region of Ukraine annexed by Russia in 2014.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization on Tuesday confirmed Tuesday that at least 110 sites have been destroyed since the start the invasion on Feb. 24.

Russia's scorched-earth tactics have led to the destruction of at least 48 religious sites, 10 museums, 22 historic buildings, 11 buildings dedicated to cultural activities, 13 monuments and six libraries.

Museums that have been damaged or destroyed include the Ivankiv Museum in the Kyiv region, the Regional Art Museum in Chernihiv and the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

Concern over the cultural artifacts of Ukraine has led international institutions such as Venice's Civic Museums to send supplies to Ukrainian museums to help secure such priceless art and artifacts.

The Lviv National Art Gallery will receive protective fabrics, foam panels and data loggers for tracking changes in humidity and temperature from the museums in Venice, Italy, The Art Newspaper reported.

According to the outlet, the donation is part of Save Ukraine Art 22 - an initiative from private companies and public institutions to create a supply chain of materials to help Ukrainian museums save the art.

The Art Newspaper noted that the Lviv National Gallery, a network of 18 museums, has also attempted to hide its collection of 67,000 works from the Russian invaders.

More than 3,000 migrants dead, missing in 2021 after Europe crossing attempt


One of hundreds of overcrowded boats filled with migrants attempting to get to Europe is pictured. A report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Friday found more than 3,000 people died or disappeared trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea or Atlantic Ocean in 2021. 

File Photo Courtesy of MSF/TWITTER

April 29 (UPI) -- More than 3,000 migrants died or went missing last year, while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea or Atlantic Ocean, according to a UN Refugee Agency report issued on Friday.

The majority of the attempted crossings took place in "packed, unseaworthy, inflatable boats," which collapsed or otherwise became unusable as they attempted to reach Europe, according to the UNHCR report.

The number of dead or missing migrants is up from 2020, when the agency reported 1,776 people perished while attempting the same crossings.

The 3,000 number is up from 1,776 in 2020, according to the UNHCR report. 

File Photo by Brais Lorenzo/EPA-EFE

Migrants typically used one of three routes, with a total of 1,924 people reported dead or missing on the Central and Western Mediterranean passages. An additional 1,153 died or went missing on the Northwest African maritime route to the Canary Islands.

Another 478 people have also died or gone missing at sea since the beginning of 2022.

The maritime crossing from the West African coast can take up to 10 days. Boats can often drift off course and disappear without a trace, the UN agency said.

Attempted crossings across land borders can be just as dangerous.

More people have died while on journeys through the Sahara Desert and remote border areas, the report found. Others end up in detention camps or in the captivity of smugglers or traffickers, where they are exposed to "gross human rights violations."

The UNHCR report calls for $163.5 million worth of international financial aid to assist and protect thousands of refugees. The agency is appealing for support to help provide alternatives to the dangerous crossings.

The appeal covers five countries across four different regions connected by the same land and sea routes which are used by migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

The UNHCR is also urging states to commit to strengthened humanitarian development to address protection.

"States must ensure unimpeded humanitarian access for the delivery of essential services to people on the move or stranded en route, intercepted at sea, or held in detention centers, and to determine whether they have international protection needs," states the report, warning of further tragedies if no action is taken.

A report from the same U.N. agency in February, found migrants seeking protection in Europe are often met with violence, ill-treatment and pushback at multiple EU ports of entry.

"People report being left adrift in life rafts or sometimes even forced directly into the water, showing a callous lack of regard for human life," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said at the time.

"Equally horrific practices are frequently reported at land borders, with consistent testimonies of people being stripped and brutally pushed back in harsh weather conditions."

Migrant boat disaster wrecks a Lebanese family amid crisis

By FAY ABUELGASIM

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Bilal Dandashi, gestures as he speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in Tripoli, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. A week ago, the boat carrying Bilal Dandashi, his relatives and dozens of others hoping to escape Lebanon and reach Europe sank in the Mediterranean. Dandashi still doesn't know if his wife and children are alive or dead. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — A week ago, the boat carrying Bilal Dandashi, his relatives and dozens of others hoping to escape Lebanon and reach Europe sank in the Mediterranean. Dandashi still doesn’t know if his wife and children are alive or dead.

Their boat sank in the darkness of night in a matter of seconds after a collision with a Lebanese Navy ship trying to stop the migrants. Of the around 60 men, women and children on board, 47 were rescued, seven bodies were found — and the rest remain missing.

The tragedy underscored the desperate lengths to which some Lebanese are going after their country’s economy collapsed, driving two-thirds of the population into poverty with no hope on the horizon for any recovery.

Lebanon has now become a source for migrants making the dangerous boat crossing to reach European shores. There are no firm figures, but hundreds of Lebanese in recent months have attempted the journey.

In Tripoli, Lebanon’s poorest city, residents say there is a constant stream of migrant boats, taking off from shores around the city — even from Tripoli’s official port.

“The port has become like an airport. Young people, women and children are going to Europe. The trips are daily,” said Amid Dandashi, Bilal’s brother, who was also on the boat with him and whose three children were killed in the capsizing.

On Friday, police said they arrested three smugglers preparing to set off with a boat carrying 85 migrants from the dock of a resort near Tripoli.

Bilal and another of his brothers had attempted a crossing once before, but the smugglers’ boat they were on stalled offshore.

So for a second trip, they took matters into their own hands. Working with two other families in Tripoli, they obtained a recreational boat, nearly 50 years old, from a smuggler. The brothers spent three months refurbishing it and getting life jackets for it.

On the night of April 23, they set off: around 22 members of the extended Dandashi family along with members of the other two families. They were around 60 people total, well over the capacity of the small yacht. The goal was to reach Italy — some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) across the Mediterranean, a common route for migrant boats from Lebanon.

An hour and a half into their journey, their boat was intercepted by the Lebanese Navy.

Disaster struck: The boat collided with the Navy ship and sank within seconds.

The Navy has blamed the boat captain, saying he was maneuvering to avoid being forced to return to shore. It also blamed the migrants for overcrowding the boat and not wearing life vests.

Bilal Dandashi, however, accused the Navy ship of intentionally ramming their boat to force it back.

He said the Navy crew were shouting insults at the migrants during the encounter. Their boat would have reached international waters, out of the Navy’s jurisdiction, in just a few minutes, he said.

“If it hadn’t hit us from the front ... we would have been able to cross,” he said. “They took a decision intentionally.”

The passengers weren’t wearing their life jackets because they didn’t want to draw attention as they left port and the boat sank too fast to put them on after the collision, Dandashi said.

Bilal Dandashi was rescued along with two of his children. But his wife and two other children remain missing.

His brother Amid’s three children were all killed, their bodies found in the later search.

Amid recalled packing up his children’s things for the trip, never imagining he’d return home without them. He and his brothers had felt certain the boat was safe after the work they put into it, otherwise he never would have put his children at risk, he said.

“I blame myself, as a father, that I went and took that risk,” he said. “But I was sure that I would reach (Europe.) ... Everything was safe.”

The increase in migrants is fueled by desperation from an economic meltdown caused by years of corruption and mismanagement.

Spiraling inflation and the collapse of the currency have wrecked people’s salaries and savings. Medicines, fuel and many foods are in short supply. Bilal Dandashi has diabetes and cannot find the medication he needs.

Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city, has felt the brunt of the crisis. Almost the entire Tripoli workforce depends on day-to-day income.

Since the boat sank, tensions have heightened in the city. Angry residents blocked roads and attacked a main army checkpoint in Tripoli, throwing stones at troops who responded by firing into the air.

The government held an extraordinary meeting and asked the military tribunal to investigate the case.

“This whole country is drowning, (it is) not just us who drowned. The whole country is drowning, and they are ignoring it,” Bilal Dandashi said.

The 47-year-old acknowledged his attempted crossing was illegal but said he was unable to travel legally. With so many Lebanese requesting passports, authorities have wrestled with a massive backlog and recently stopped processing applications altogether.

“Give me a passport. For 6 months, I couldn’t get one,” he said. “Why? Because they want us here to put us in the grave here -- or go die in the sea.”