Saturday, March 23, 2024

 At least 60 people have been killed and 145 others injured after several gunmen wearing camouflage burst into a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow Friday. A fire broke out with flames visible from miles away. The whereabouts of the gunmen remains unknown.

The U.S. believes a group known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, is responsible, an administration official told NPR. The group, based in eastern Afghanistan, had claimed responsibility on its Telegram channel.

The U.S. warned Russia earlier this month that it had information about a planned terror attack in Moscow, potentially targeting concerts, said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson in a statement.

Moscow concert hall shooting

Concertgoers had gathered at Moscow's Crocus City Hall venue to see the veteran Russian rock band Picnic when several armed gunmen in military fatigues entered.

Witness videos on social media show at least three attackers firing at bystanders as they attempted to hide. Other images show people lying on the ground in the main concert hall before a fire breaks out and spreads, trapping some inside. Several people were spotted on the venue's roof.

Moscow concert hall shooting


Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said "a huge tragedy has occurred" as the number of dead is expected to rise, and expressed his condolences.

Some Russian officials are suggesting there must be some Ukrainian role, a claim the Ukrainians deny. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted "Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with the shooting in the Crocus City Hall. It makes no sense whatsoever."

The White House issued a statement calling the attack "terrible" and saying there was "no indication at this time" of a Ukrainian role in the attack.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the images of the shooting were "horrible and hard to watch." The U.S. embassy in Moscow has warned U.S. citizens to avoid the area.

Moscow concert hall shooting


Moscow was the scene of a hostage crisis at the Dubrovka theater in 2002, in which Chechen gunmen demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya took some 800 theatergoers hostage. A raid by Russian security forces to end the crisis killed or caused the deaths of 172 people.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called on the international community to condemn the incident, calling it "a monstrous crime."

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

McClatchy and Gannett Reduce Their Connection With A.P.

 The Associated Press, a global provider of news stories and photos, will see a significant reduction in business ties with Gannett and McClatchy, two of the largest American newspaper chains.


The biggest newspaper firm in the US, Gannett, which also publishes USA Today, announced on Tuesday that it will stop using content from The A.P. in its hundreds of publications as of Monday.

"Within our remarkable network of over 200 newsrooms and USA Today, we produce more journalism daily than The A.P." stated in a message sent by Gannett's chief content officer, Kristin Roberts.

Ms. Roberts stated that Gannett will keep using The A.P.'s stylebook, which offers recommendations on language and acceptable journalism practices, and election data. She also mentioned that Gannett had a deal in place for international news with Reuters, a competing news organization, "while we build our capacity."

Lark:The decision, according to Gannett spokeswoman Marie Antón, "enables us to invest further in our newsrooms."





McClatchy, which Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund, acquired out of bankruptcy in 2020, informed its editors this week that it will no longer be utilizing some A.P. services as of next month. About thirty newspapers, including The Miami Herald and The Kansas City Star, are published by McClatchy, which also has a bureau in Washington, D.C.

Senior vice president of news and audience at McClatchy, Kathy Vetter, stated in an email on Monday that The A.P.'s feed will terminate on March 29 and that no A.P. content will be produced after March 31. She did, however, state that McClatchy would keep using the election results data from The A.P.
The New York Times saw Ms. Vetter's email, which stated, "With this decision, we will no longer pay millions for content that serves less than 1 percent of our readers." "We have typically discovered alternatives. We are still developing a comprehensive solution for state "wires" content, though.

An attempt to reach McClatchy for comment was met with no response right away.

The A.P. spokeswoman Lauren Easton stated that talks over Gannett and McClatchy's contracts "have been productive and are ongoing."
Ms. Easton stated in a statement, "We recognize that these are tough choices to make and fully comprehend the difficulties the news industry faces." "Yet, news consumers nationwide would suffer as a result, as The A.P. would no longer provide fact-based journalism."

Founded in 1846, the A.P. employs reporters in approximately 100 nations and every state. It supplies news outlets and broadcasters worldwide, such as The New York Times, with wire content, which includes stories, images, and videos.

 Gold Star parent Steve Nikoui was charged with obstruction of Congress during President Biden's State of the Union speech earlier this month, but those charges have since been dismissed by Democratic attorney general in Washington, D.C. Brian Schwalb.


Kareem Nikoui, who was killed in 2021 during the tumultuous withdrawal of the Biden Administration from Afghanistan, was the son of Nikoui.


Fox News was informed of the choice on Tuesday night. The Speaker's Office verified the decision to withdraw the charges.

Nikoui was "thrilled and humbled," Rep. Darrel Issa of California told Fox News, adding that there were tears shed when he received the news.


 
When he received the news, other families were present as well.

During the speech, Nikoui—who was invited by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla.—interrupted the president by yelling, "Abbey Gate!"

After giving Nikoui a warning, the US Capitol Police (USCP) took him out of the chamber and placed him under arrest.

USCP put out a statement that night stating that "disrupting the Congress and demonstrating in Congressional Buildings is illegal."
Mast demanded that the accusations be withdrawn, as did Representatives Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Representative Issa, and House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul.
Issa and Waltz begged USCP Police Chief Tom Manger to dismiss the charges in a letter.

That was a decision left to Schwalb, though. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

 

Drake Bell is using his new music as a way to process his experience.


The 37-year-old singer-actor released "I Kind of Relate," a new song on his experience, along with a music video a few days after disclosing that he had been sexually abused as a child actor on Nickelodeon.


The song, "running away / From the abuse and all the shame," and the video, which has him on a television set that looks like it could be from his old Nickelodeon series, Drake and Josh, seem to be references to his past.

"This song was inspired by my past and now that my story is being told I felt the time was right to share it," Bell wrote in the caption of the video on YouTube.

A little boy is shown in the beginning of the film reading aloud on a TV before an adult guy ushers him into a trailer and shuts the blinds. The outside of the trailer and the back of the chair both say "Drake Bell," when he stands up.
Drake Bell recreates the Drake and Josh set for a music video


Then, Bell himself makes an appearance in the film, seated in a car and appearing to have just survived a collision with blood on his face.

Following surgery, the "Found a Way" singer watches what looks to be a group therapy session. Eventually, he takes up a guitar in a scene that mirrors the bedroom that Josh Nichols (played by Josh Peck), the character's step-brother, and his character, Drake Parker, shared on Drake and Josh.

"I kind of relate / I found beauty in my pain / I’m running away / From the abuse and all the shame," he sings on the pop-rock song. "‘Cause no one comes / To my house anymore / No one knocks on my door / I kind of relate / The wrong decisions I have made / I wanted to stay / But I couldn’t last another day / My golden days / They seem so far and gray / So I’m running away (running away)."

The former cast member of The Amanda Show spoke up on Instagram shortly after the release of "I Kind of Relate" on Monday, sharing the story behind the images of a vehicle crash in the music video.

Monday, March 18, 2024

 After being involved in a hit-and-run vehicle accident, well-known Kenyan Tiktoker Brian Chira Wambui passed away.


The contentious influencer is alleged to have been struck by a speeding lorry on Saturday at approximately 4 a.m. while intoxicated in the Gacharage district on the Ndenderu-Ruaka Road in Kiambu County.


According to Pius Mwanthi, Kiambaa sub-county OCPD, Chira was struck by a white canter on his way home from a night out with a companion.

According to a police record obtained by Citizen Digital and submitted at the Karuri Traffic Base, Chira was being driven home by his friend Zeleck Momanyi Alfonso on a motorcycle at the time of the accident.


Rumor has it that Momanyi ran into Chira outside Ciero Resort after the latter was ejected by security for reportedly stirring up trouble in the entertainment establishment.

Brian Chira died

"It happened that they were coming from Ciero Resort at the Gacharage area near Total Petrol Station where Zeleck Momanyi Alfonso had passed while on his way to his house and found Brian Chira being taken out of the resort by security guards claiming he was drunk and causing chaos and the resort was closing," according to the police report.

Chira allegedly got off the motorcycle at the Gacharage roundabout, raced to the main road, got knocked down, and passed out right there.

"Upon reaching Gacharage roundabout, Brian requested Momanyi and the rider of the motorcycle namely Abdul Charo via phone to take him to his house and they then passed the service lane towards Ruaka but headed towards Ndenderu on the wrong side and on reaching the location of the accident, Brian alighted and ran to the main road," stated the report,

"Zeleck Momanyi then followed him for he was drunk and before he could reach him, he was hit by a white canter which did not stop."
His body has since been taken to the City Mortuary.

 For the 2024 NIT, Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Indiana State, and Villanova earned the top seeds. The 32-team field was revealed on Sunday, and college locations will host competitions starting on Tuesday. The semifinals and championship game of the tournament will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 2 and April 4, respectively.


The NIT will debut a new look in this year. The first twelve NIT automatic bids and the privilege to host first-round games will go to the top two teams from the NET rankings from each of the major six conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC), provided they did not make it to the NCAA Tournament.
Following their elimination from the NCAA Tournament, several high-major institutions, including Oklahoma, Pitt, St. John's, and Indiana, turned down invitations to the NIT. Preseason No. 1 North Carolina last year turned down an offer.

nit bracket 2024


Madison Square Garden has always hosted the semifinals and final of the tournament, but starting in 2023, the NCAA will start "accepting bids from numerous cities" to host it.

2024 NIT key dates 

First Round: March 19-20
Second round: March 23-24
Quarterfinals: March 26-27
Semifinals: April 2 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)
Championship: April 4 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)

All times Eastern 

2024 NIT First Round schedule 

The higher-seeded team's home venue will host games in the first three rounds.

Top Left Bracket

No. 1 Seton Hall vs. Saint Joseph's | Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 2 Princeton vs. UNLV | Wednesday, 8 p.m. 
No. 3 Providence vs. Boston College | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 4 LSU vs. North Texas | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 

Bottom Left Bracket

No. 1 Wake Forest vs. Appalachian State | Wednesday, 8 p.m. 
No. 2 Ohio State vs. Cornell | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. Richmond | Tuesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 4 Georgia vs. Xavier | Tuesday, 7 p.m. 

Upper Right Bracket

No. 1 Indiana State vs. SMU | Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 2 Cincinnati vs. San Francisco | Wednesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 3 Bradley vs. Loyola Chicago | Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
No. 4 Butler vs. Minnesota | Tuesday, 9 p.m. 

Lower Right Bracket

No. 1 Villanova vs. VCU | Wednesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 2 Utah vs. UC Irvine | Tuesday, 11 p.m. 
No. 3 Iowa vs. Kansas State | Tuesday, 9 p.m. 
No. 4 UCF vs. USF| Wednesday, 9 p.m. 

Since his earlier prostate operation at The London Clinic, King Charles' health has been in the spotlight. Doctors found "a separate issue of concern" during the medical process. Charles' cancer diagnosis was later verified by Buckingham Palace.

According to the Palace, which maintains that Charles does not have prostate cancer, the reason for Charles's prostate operation was not malignancy. The advise of his doctors has forced the monarch to give up on some public duties. He does, however, have weekly meetings with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Prior to the announcement of his old friend Ian Farquhar's death at the king's Highgrove estate, on March 15, King Charles was spotted departing Windsor Castle. When the monarch was taken to an unidentified place, he appeared solemn.

He had a meeting at Buckingham Palace on March 14 with the Jamaican High Commissioner and his spouse. Prior to that, he had a video conversation with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada. Additionally, he met with the ambassadors of Mauritania and Algeria.

On social media, there are conjectures and conspiracy theories claiming that King Charles might have died.

One user on X (previously Twitter) stated that some government buildings in the United Kingdom had their flag flown at half mast and mentioned that the BBC had gone "all black again."

The user asserted that either Kate Middleton passed away or King Charles died and abdicated. The user went on, "The streets are saying King Charles is dead?"

But the X user is not alone in making this assertion.


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"It's rumored that King Charles passed away on Saint Patrick's Day?" wrote a different user.

Several others on social media noted that it was Saint Patrick's Day (March 17), an Irish holiday, seemingly alluding to Princess Diana's Irish ancestry.

According to reports, the Royal Family informed the BBC Events team to prepare for a significant update "at any time." It has been suggested thus far that it has anything to do with Kate.

The sisters Lauren and Chen, who host the podcast "Popapologists," posted a video on TikTok discussing Princess Kate's condition. They discussed her decision to skip the June Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Since undergoing stomach surgery in January, Princess Kate, 42, has not made any public appearances. She apologized this week for "manipulating" a picture of her and her three children that the palace had released. People's curiosity regarding her whereabouts and health increased after her apology.