admin
Keanu Reeves To Judge Take It Easy On My Netflix Fraudster Friend Published May 27, 2026 5:35 PM PDT Keanu Reeves is going to bat for a director convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11
admin
BTS X Oreo Collab News Anchor Makes Twisted 'Death To America' Joke!!!🫢 Published May 27, 2026 5:18 PM PDT Talk about a broadcast going from sweet to stale real quick -- a Texas news anchor
admin
John McClain Co-Executor of MJ Estate Suffered Broken Arm in Fall Before Death Published May 27, 2026 5:09 PM PDT John McClain, the co-executor of Michael Jackson's estate and a veteran music executive and producer,
admin
Spencer Pratt's allegation about Mayor Karen Bass breaking the law in one of her campaign videos could lead to a police investigation ... TMZ has learned. Josué "Josh" Marcus with the City Clerk's Office tells
admin
Influencer Ayla Woodruff I Love My Fiancé ... Guess I Better Divorce my Hubby!!! Published May 27, 2026 4:00 PM PDT Influencer Ayla Woodruff is getting a divorce ... but not from the influencer she
admin
Palm Beach Pete Vote For Me As Palm Beach Mayor!!! Published May 27, 2026 3:15 PM PDT Palm Beach Pete -- the guy who went viral for looking eerily like Jeffrey Epstein -- is now
admin
A faithful arrives to attend prayers marking the holiday of Eid al-Adha, as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, at the Central Mosque in Bunia town,
admin
India’s drive to blend more ethanol into petrol and shield itself from global energy price shocks has increased the amount of farmland tied to fuel production more than eight-fold in four years, according to new research. India depends on imports for some 85% of its oil, so using more ethanol, made from crops such as sugarcane, rice and maize, is central to its plans to boost its energy security and reduce planet-heating emissions. State-run oil companies currently mix 20% ethanol in each litre of petrol before it reaches the pumps. The area of land linked to ethanol feedstocks, especially maize and rice, has risen from 0.7mn hectares in 2020-21, to 5.7mn hectares in 2024-25, reflecting a rapid expansion in grain-based ethanol production, data presented by Delhi-based research organisation Arcus Policy Research this month showed. While India’s ethanol programme was initially driven by surplus sugar supplies, by 2024-25 only 32% of ethanol supplied to public fuel retailers came from sugarcane, while grain-based ethanol accounted for 68%, according to Arcus Policy Research. The shift is reshaping crop choices, increasing maize use for fuel and relying heavily on government rice stocks to meet blending targets, said researchers and industry executives at a policy discussion this month where the data was presented. In just over a decade, India increased the amount of ethanol blended into petrol more than 13-fold, from 1.5% in 2014 to 20% in 2025, reaching its E20 target five years ahead of schedule despite a backlash from some drivers over reduced fuel efficiency and concerns about engine wear. The government says the shift to biofuel saved Rs1.06tn ($12bn) in crude oil imports and avoided 54.4mn tonnes of carbon emissions in a decade, equivalent to emissions from 12mn petrol cars a year. It also describes the reduction in fuel efficiency as marginal. The gains, however, come with trade-offs. The diversion of food crops toward fuel has raised concerns over grain availability, as well as land and water use. Scientists continue to debate whether crop-based ethanol significantly lowers emissions once the land and water needed to grow the crops are factored into the equation. “The rapid expansion reflects a major shift in India’s ethanol programme away from sugarcane and toward grains such as maize and rice,” said Shweta Saini, CEO of Arcus Policy Research. Nearly 29% of India’s maize production was diverted toward ethanol in 2024-25, while maize cultivation expanded from 9.9mn hectares in 2020-21, to 13.7mn hectares, the data showed. Researchers said the shift was beginning to ripple through agricultural supply chains, affecting feed markets, crop choices and land use patterns. Saini said the market for soybeans, a major ingredient of animal feed in India, had already been hit by farmers growing maize for ethanol production, which generates a byproduct that is also used to feed livestock.Researchers and former policymakers also raised concerns over the growing diversion of government rice stocks toward ethanol production. Former agriculture secretary Siraj Hussain said much of the broken rice being supplied for ethanol was still suitable for human consumption and would previously have entered India’s subsidised public food distribution system. India allocated a record 5.2mn metric tonnes of rice from state stockpiles for ethanol production in 2024-25, according to Reuters. Saini said the issue reflected wider contradictions in Indian agriculture policy, where governments continue incentivising paddy cultivation despite repeated calls to diversify toward pulses and less water-intensive crops. She warned that while food grain supplies may remain stable, shifting more land and incentives toward fuel-linked crops could increasingly affect India’s “nutrition security”, especially as the country remains heavily dependent on imports of edible oils and pulses. The concerns come as PM Narendra Modi has urged citizens to reduce edible oil consumption as part of austerity measures announced after rising energy prices linked to the ME conflict increased pressure on India’s foreign exchange reserves.
admin
Britain risks creating a "lost generation" as the number of young people out of work and education surges, a government-commissioned review warned yesterday.The number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training — so-called "NEETs" — topped one mn in the first quarter of the year for the first time since 2013, separate official data showed.Without action, that figure could rise to 1.25mn, or one in six young people, within five years, the report said."We are at risk of a lost generation," said Alan Milburn, a former Labour cabinet minister who led the review and is due to propose solutions later this year."It's a warning that far too many young people are reaching adulthood only to find the door to opportunity closed," he told a press conference.Calling the report "sobering" but vowing he would not allow a generation to be lost, Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to work with Milburn "on what more needs to be done".For Shana Fatahali, 23, who has spent the past two years searching for work in England's West Midlands, "young people do want to get out there and have a job"."A lot of the older generation are stuck in the mindset that you fill your CV out, hand it in and you've got a job just like that. But times have moved on since then," she told AFP.— 'Very anxious' —Fatahali, who has a four-year-old child and holds a health and social care diploma, noted there were few jobs "that fit around my responsibilities as a parent".She described feeling trapped, like many young people, in a cycle of being rejected for lacking experience while unable to gain it without an opportunity.Starmer commissioned the review last year to understand the causes of rising youth unemployment.While 84% of NEETs want to be employed or in training, the report found that many young people are struggling to reach "the first rung of the career ladder".It blamed a "sharp decline" in entry-level roles such as hospitality jobs, weekend jobs and apprenticeships."There is no shortage of effort on the part of young people. The shortage is of opportunity and of support," Milburn said.Faith, a 22-year-old in southwest England, told AFP that she struggled to find even part-time work as she neared the end of her master's degree in criminology."I was applying everywhere in town, coffee shops, but they just ignore you," she said, adding that the process made her feel "very anxious" about the future."A lot of people go to university because it's meant to help you get a job, but I haven't seen that personally."— 'Multiple barriers' —About a decade ago, Britain had a similar NEET rate to the European Union average. By last year, only Romania recorded a higher rate.The report found rising mental health problems played a key role in the increase in NEETs in Britain."For the first time in perhaps two centuries, changes in health, especially in mental health, are impeding economic growth and causing a contraction in the supply of labour," Milburn said.The economic cost of the youth unemployment crisis was estimated at around £125bn ($168bn) per year, taking into account lost tax revenue and higher health and welfare spending."Behind the statistics are real young people facing real and often multiple barriers," said Sarah Yong, deputy chief executive at Youth Futures Foundation.The British Chambers of Commerce said the issues identified have "long been reported by businesses".The "report must be a wake-up call for policymakers about the crisis of young people not in employment, education and training", said Shevaun Haviland, BCC director general. Related Story
admin
The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has pledged to do 'everything in my power' to help conquer a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), as he headed to the African nation yesterday.In lengthy message to the Congolese people, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that 'together, we will overcome this outbreak'.According to its latest figures, up to May 24, the WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DR Congo since the outbreak was declared on May 15, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.The WHO has warned that the true spread of the outbreak, thought to have circulated under the radar for some time, is likely much wider.'I want to be with you in these moments. And I want you to know that you are not alone,' Tedros said in the message posted on X, having earlier said he was on his way to the DR Congo.'Ebola is now back. This time, the outbreak is hitting Ituri province the hardest,' he said, with more than 90% of cases in the conflict-torn northeastern province. 'I know how frightening that is.'Tedros said he would be going to Ituri's capital Bunia, 'and doing everything in my power to help you. I will not be managing this from a comfortable office far away”.The UN health agency chief said the affected areas were already dealing with malaria, hunger, insecurity and now Ebola.'It is not fair, and I will not pretend otherwise,' he said.According to Tedros, the Ebola response would be built on Ituri's in-built resilience.'We do not come to Ituri with only medicine and expertise. We come to join a community that already knows how to fight for its survival,' he said.Tedros fears insecurity in the eastern DR Congo, which has been plagued by conflict for three decades, is making it harder to contain the outbreak.He urged the warring factions to give health workers the space to save lives.'Conflict and displacement make everything harder,' he said. 'I am making a direct appeal to all warring parties in this region: please, declare a ceasefire.”'People are dying from Ebola who do not have to die. Children are sick. Families are suffering,” Tedros said. “No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease.'No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.However, Tedros said the spread of the virus could still be prevented by early care in treatment centres.And he vowed that the authorities would help ensure loved ones are buried in dignity and safety.He urged young people to help break 'the fear and the silence that allow this virus to spread'.Tedros said that he was no stranger to Ebola outbreaks in the DR Congo, recalling that from 2018-2020, he visited North Kivu province – the epicentre of that outbreak – 14 times.In that crisis, 'trust grew slowly, then more quickly. People came forward. And together, we managed to contain the outbreak', he said.This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100mn people.'Together, you have overcome every single one before,' said Tedros. 'We will get through this one too.''16 times, this country has defeated Ebola,” he stated. “The 17th will be no different. But we must act now, together.'Already facing a shortage of supplies, doctors there are also tackling attacks on their facilities caused by denial of the disease among some in the DR Congo.The WHO said yesterday that it was scaling up testing in the DR Congo in partnership with the country's national medical research organisation.MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo said it had shipped just under five tonnes of medical cargo to Ituri yesterday, the latest in a series of flights to deliver supplies.However, three humanitarian officials involved in the Ebola response in the DR Congo said that continued restrictions on flights in and out of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, were hampering operations.One humanitarian official said that despite promising to grant ad hoc exemptions for aid workers, the ministry of transport was not processing them.The Congolese government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on flight restrictions.In a bid to curb the spread, countries across the world have rolled out travel-related containment measures.The United States has temporarily banned the entry of green card holders who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days.The US government, which has said that it 'cannot and will not allow' any cases of Ebola to enter the country, is hoping Kenya will host a facility there to quarantine American citizens who become exposed to the disease.It was not clear yesterday if Kenya would agree to the request.
