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NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail on Wednesday as he awaits a May sex trafficking trial by a judge who cited evidence showing him to be a “serious risk” of witness tampering and proof he has tried to hide prohibited communications with third parties while incarcerated. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled in a five-page order following a bail hearing last week. At the hearing, lawyers for the hip-hop mogul argued that a $50 million bail package they proposed would be sufficient to ensure Combs doesn’t flee and doesn’t try to intimidate prospective trial witnesses. Two other judges previously had agreed with prosecutors that the Bad Boy Records founder was a danger to the community if he is not behind bars. Subramanian concurred. “There is compelling evidence of Combs's propensity for violence,” Subramanian wrote. Lawyers for Combs did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the decision. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for prosecutors, declined comment. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years, aided by associates and employees. An indictment alleges that he silenced victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings. A federal appeals court judge last month denied Combs’ immediate release while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan considers his bail request. That appeal was put on hold while Subramanian, newly appointed to the case after an earlier judge stepped aside, considered the bail request for the first time. Subramanian said he took a fresh look at all the bail arguments and the evidence supporting them to make his decision. Prosecutors have insisted that no bail conditions would be sufficient to protect the public and prevent the “I'll Be Missing You” singer from fleeing. They say that even in a federal lockup in Brooklyn, Combs has orchestrated social media campaigns designed to influence prospective jurors and tried to publicly leak materials he thinks can help his case. They say he also has contacted potential witnesses through third parties. Lawyers for Combs say any alleged sexual abuse described in the indictment occurred during consensual relations between adults and that new evidence refutes allegations that Combs used his “power and prestige” to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs.” Subramanian said evidence shows Combs to be a “serious risk of witness tampering,” particularly after he communicated over the summer with a grand jury witness and deleted some of his texts with the witness. The judge also cited evidence showing that Combs violated Bureau of Prisons regulations during pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn when he paid other inmates to use their phone code numbers so he could make calls to individuals who were not on his approved contact list. He said there was also evidence that he told family members and defense counsel to add other people to three-way calls so their communications would be more difficult to trace and that he made efforts to influence his trial's jury pool or to reach potential witnesses. Subramanian said his “willingness to skirt” jailhouse rules to conceal communications was “strong evidence” that any conditions of release would not prevent similar behavior. The judge said defense claims that Combs stopped using one particular phone technique criticized by prosecutors was belied by the fact that Combs apparently used it again on Sunday, two days after his bail hearing last week. Even a bail proposal that would include the strictest form of home confinement seemed insufficient, the judge said. “Given the nature of the allegations in this case and the information provided by the government, the Court doubts the sufficiency of any conditions that place trust in Combs and individuals in his employ — like a private security detail — to follow those conditions,” Subramanian wrote.
VANCOUVER - The first commercial batch of made-in-Canada low-carbon aviation fuel sourced from non-food grade canola and tallow has been produced and quickly purchased. Fuel retailer Parkland Corp. said Tuesday it has successfully produced about 100,000 litres of the fuel at its refinery in Burnaby, B.C. “using existing infrastructure.” Parkland senior vice-president Ferio Pugliese said it means production can easily be scaled up, but only if Canada provides the necessary conditions to create an ecosystem around the nascent commodity and its adoption across the country. “We need to do more to make low-carbon air travel a reality,” Pugliese said during the announcement in Vancouver on Tuesday. “We need a long-term Canadian solution for low-carbon, sustainable aviation fuel.” While the potential for emission reduction is massive production in Canada is also significantly more expensive, Pugliese said. He notes that similar low-carbon fuels used in vehicles, buses and ferries have about one-eighth of the carbon content when compared to traditional fuels. Pugliese said other countries such as the United States incentivize production and use of low-carbon jet fuel, creating the necessary ecosystem to support a local industry. “Currently, the Canadian aviation industry purchases low-carbon aviation (fuel) from other countries and imports it from across the globe into Canada. That makes little sense.” Parkland began trying to develop the fuel in 2017, and the entire batch of the first production run has already been bought by Air Canada. Pugliese said the purchase of the fuel by Air Canada completes a value chain within the country that shows local development, production, sale and use of low-carbon jet fuel can be achieved to the benefit of everyone — but only if the support from government is there. “Airlines need very practical solutions, and today, right here in B.C., Parkland has created a made-in-Canada solution to a global challenge,” he said. The comments echoed that of WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, who in 2023 said the global push for decarbonizing commercial aviation by 2050 will cause spikes in airfares unless governments intervene. Part of the challenge, von Hoensbroech said, is that alternative energy sources such as electric or hydrogen aircraft remains a long way from reality, making the sector difficult to decarbonize. In February, a pair of industry groups, including the National Airlines Council of Canada, said the country needed incentives matching that of the United States to spark production of sustainable aviation fuels. Commercial aviation giant Airbus has said that low-carbon jet fuel can reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 80 per cent, and development is ongoing for planes to be able to run completely on it instead of needing to mix it with conventional fuels. But Airbus also said the ecosystem for the fuel is still “in its infancy,” with just 600 million litres produced last year, making up 0.2 per cent of all aviation fuel for 2023. “Appropriate regulatory mechanisms and inventive structures still need to be put in place, and even then, there are challenges associated with the limited availability of land and biowaste,” Airbus said of the technology on its website. Airbus has said it is increasing its own use of low-carbon fuels with a goal of reaching 30 per cent of its total fuel mix by 2030. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.Pet passports for dogs, cats and ferrets to travel within UK ‘an outrage’Republicans lash out at Democrats' claims that Trump intelligence pick Gabbard is 'compromised'
A Nov. 28 Instagram post ( , ) includes a video of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaking in Spanish at a news conference. “Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican President, has just announced that migrant caravans will no longer be reaching the US border,” reads part of the post, which is a recording of a post first . “Isn't it strange how fast our problems are resolved when these other countries fear some kind of consequence. TRUMP said he would TARIFF Mexico. That's all it took." The post was liked nearly 300 times in a week. The original X post was re-posted more than 100 times. | | Mexico has not made any changes to immigration policy in response to the tariff threat from President-elect Donald Trump. The video comes from a news conference in which Sheinbaum outlined steps taken since December 2023 that had already slashed the flow of migrants to the U.S., and she emphasized they had nothing to do with Trump's election or tariff threat. Trump announced on Nov. 25 a plan to institute a imported to the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, calling it punishment for illegal immigration and the flow of drugs into the U.S. Mexican officials immediately , and Trump and Sheinbaum gave on whether Mexico had agreed to take new steps to completely stop the flow of migrants to the countries’ shared border. Regardless of whose version of the private conversation is correct, the video in the social media post does not show Sheinbaum pledging to stop migrant caravans due to the threat of tariffs. It comes from a Nov. 26 news conference where she points out that the caravans had already stopped, due to actions Mexico undertook well before − and completely unrelated to − the tariff threat. "You are probably not aware that Mexico has developed a comprehensive policy to assist migrants from different parts of the world who cross our territory and are destined for the southern border of the United States of America," the letter says in Spanish, according to a in which she read the letter. "As a result, and according to figures from your country's Border and Customs Patrol (CBP), encounters at the border between Mexico and the United States have been reduced by 75% from December 2023 to November 2024. ... For these reasons, caravans of migrants no longer arrive at the border." Sheinbaum also noted that half of those who did arrive were legally granted appointments scheduled with the U.S.’s app. There is no credible news reporting about Mexico doing anything new to close its borders to stop illegal migration to the U.S. in response to the tariff threat. The clip in the Instagram post also came from the news conference, and the English-language post misrepresents the contents of Sheinbaum's remarks. While the text of the post suggests she was capitulating in the video on immigration policy because of the tariff threat, her full comments in the and of the news conference show nothing of the sort. Instead, the video clip − which picks up and ends in mid-sentence − includes a portion where she talks about the harm tariffs can do to American companies operating in Mexico and the possibility U.S. tariffs could be met by Mexican tariffs. “What we want to say in the letter is that raising tariffs – and we will show this in greater detail tomorrow – on Mexico, which would also mean being able to raise tariffs on this side, will ultimately lead to harming companies that work in Mexico and the United States, and which are American companies that have been in Mexico for decades, not even because of the Free Trade Agreement,” she says in Spanish. It was not clear if she was referring to the negotiated or a previous agreement. : The letter also pointed fingers at the U.S. for its role in fostering violence and drug production in Mexico. Sheinbaum noted that 70% of weapons seized from criminals in Mexico were illegally imported from the U.S., and Mexicans are being killed and injured as gangs try to meet the demand to produce more drugs for the U.S. "President Trump, we are not going to address the migration phenomenon or drug consumption in the United States with threats or tariffs,” she wrote in the letter in Spanish. “These great challenges will require cooperation and mutual understanding.” USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The X user could not be reached for comment. also debunked the claim. President of the Republic of Mexico, Nov. 26, President of the Republic of Mexico, Nov. 26, La 4TV (YouTube), Nov. 26,Four children were injured in Alamosa Thursday morning when a school bus crashed into another vehicle after the bus allegedly failed to yield. Police received reports of the crash at the intersection of West Avenue and 8th Street around 7:39 a.m. The other vehicle involved was a Ford Edge driven by Alamosa resident Stevie Hostetter. The school bus was carrying 14 students on their way to the Alamosa Elementary School when it collided with Hostetter. Witnesses at the scene said the school bus failed to yield the right of way when it turned in front of Hostetter, according to a social media post by the Alamosa Police Department, The four students and Hostetter were treated and released at the scene for minor injuries. The driver of the school bus, identified as 69-year-old Dennis Pacheco of Alamosa, was cited for careless driving causing injury.
Neelachal Ispat’s Expansion Incorporates Water-Smart Technology for Better Conservation
Participants in the REU summer internship program at Bigelow Laboratory learn how to do oceanographic fieldwork on an educational research cruise aboard the R/V Bowditch in 2023. David Fields photo For climate scientists, the ocean’s temperature is of significant concern. As with most healthy systems, balance is critical; there are consequences if it’s too cold or warm. Researchers at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have consistently observed a warming trend in the Gulf of Maine, resulting in the decline of vital aquatic organisms and kelp forests. If they can more accurately measure the Gulf of Maine’s warming rate, they can better predict the future impacts of climate change — at least, that’s the hope. For over 20 years, Bigelow’s Gulf of Maine North Atlantic Time Series (GNATS) has been used to validate satellite-based measurements of ocean color using on-the-water observations. When the program began in 1998, Senior Research Scientist Barney Balch led a team of scientists across the Gulf. Funded by NASA, primarily to confirm whether satellite data was providing an accurate account of conditions, the team gathered information on nutrient and carbon concentrations, optical properties such as ocean color, and details about the biological communities at the base of the food web. Sure enough, what was intended as a three-year research initiative evolved into a series used to explore the Maine coast’s dynamic past, present and future. Senior Research Scientist Catherine “Cath” Mitchell said the series is an example of how collecting data can have unexpected benefits later. She recently secured funding from NASA to resume annual research cruises from next year through 2027. The updated GNATS program will use the laboratory’s new research vessel, the R/V Bowditch, to enhance local research. “I’m excited about getting more collaborators involved,” Mitchell said. “If we can create opportunities for other scientists to take advantage of the fact that we’re already out there measuring these things, that would do wonders to advance the science of the Gulf of Maine.” The R/V Bowditch, docked at Bigelow Laboratory, is being adapted as part of the GNATS program to monitor changing conditions and validate satellite data in the Gulf of Maine. The instrument on the front is the radiometer the team uses to measure ocean color. Cath Mitchell photo David Drapeau, a team member since GNATS inception under Blarch’s leadership, said the program’s acronym is pronounced like the tiny, winged insect. “It follows the footsteps of two well-known programs in the oceanographic community,” said Drapeau, citing the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) and the Hawaii Ocean Time Series (HOT). “It aims to validate satellite ocean color data, but one advantage of doing this work in our backyard is that we can study changes that emerge over time.” Reflecting on the team’s humble beginnings, Drapeau noted that 1998, the GNATS lab was housed in a 20-foot shipping container transported by truck. They worked on the Scotia Prince, a massive 500-foot vessel similar to a cruise ship, which he described as “ideal for data collection.” Given its size, it could handle rough seas and was relatively affordable — $400 for a group of three, compared to chartering a research vessel for a day, costing over $10,000. The ferry took a direct route from Portland to Nova Scotia, which the team continues to use today. Note, without necessary Coast Guard approvals for international work, the transect extends two-thirds of the way across the Gulf of Maine. “We took water samples every 18 miles along that line,” Drapeau said. “That was determined by the ferry’s speed, traveling at 18 knots, which allowed us an hour to process each sample.” GNATS has now upgraded to high-speed catamarans that travel up to 40 knots, shortening processing times to 20 minutes and the trip time in total. “Even as equipment and technology improve, we collect data using the same methods,” Drapeau said. “If our calibration becomes inconsistent, we won’t be able to accurately determine if the Gulf is warming. It’s no use if we’re comparing apples to oranges.” Senior Research Associate Dave Drapeau prepares the Bowditch before a shakedown cruise in August to test new instruments and protocols before beginning official data collection for GNATS in 2025. Cath Mitchell photo Fieldwork can be costly. When researchers secure a three-year grant, they are often allotted two or three cruises to collect water samples and measure site-specific phenomena. Given that limitation, Drapeau said it’s tough to document changes besides weather patterns, which vary annually. Proving climate change, for example, requires decades of data collection and analysis. That’s where time series come into play. Secondary to its funding goals, GNATS data has revealed shifts in the Gulf of Maine and subsequent implications. “There are two aspects to our work,” Drapeau said. “Routine measurements and the surprises we encounter.” Drapeau reflected on some cruises the team took last April. Unlike regular procedures, they towed nets, which, when they were extracted from the water, were covered in a thick brown substance comparable to mud. “We discovered a significant bloom of dinoflagellates, a type of phytoplankton,” Drapeau said. “The species itself wasn’t unusual, but to see such a large bloom at that time of the year was . Sure enough, other scientists and fishermen reported the phenomenon, and as a result, a small working group was formed to investigate further.” While that instance could have been seen just as “being out on the water,” he acknowledged other studies that, thanks to GNATS data, have been equally if not even more revelatory. Participants in the REU summer internship program at Bigelow Laboratory learn how to do oceanographic fieldwork aboard the R/V Bowditch in 2023. Collecting water samples, they sample everything from oxygen levels and bacteria counts to zooplankton populations. David Fields photo Oceanographic measurements between September 1998 and December 2010 were used to identify changes in the Gulf of Maine’s physical, chemical and biological characteristics in an article published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. GNATS samples collected during extreme precipitation (four of the eight wettest years of the last century) between 2005 and 2010 reflected a notable decline in the amount and productivity of phytoplankton. The study found that stratification occurred, isolating the surface water from the bottom water and reducing the exchange of nutrients between organisms. This was reflected in the ocean color data, which appeared yellower than usual. Findings indicate that precipitation, particularly river discharge, influence the productivity of the Gulf; colored dissolved organic matter and detrital material compete with phytoplankton for light absorption. “More definitive conclusions can be drawn from time series,” said Drapeau, referencing another article published by the Inter-Research Science Center. “Our analysis of GNATS data revealed that the ocean’s surface was cooling in the spring but warming in the other seasons. This trend coincides with a decline in primary production, associated with changes in chlorophyll, particulate organic carbon, temperature and residual nitrate levels.” In layman’s terms, the report suggests that factors beyond weather are contributing to the observed changes, linking the warming phenomenon to saline North Atlantic Slope water entering the Gulf of Maine. “Analyzing an ecosystem is complicated,” Drapeau said. “Looking at a snapshot isn’t enough. It’s important to contextualize time series by supplementing it with data from other projects. This is especially relevant in our case, as studying a transect on a moving vessel has its complications.” The research team managing GNATS now includes Research Associate Sunny Pinkham (left) and Research Technician Brynn Presler-Marshall (right). On the shakedown cruise in August, the team was joined by former Bigelow Laboratory staff previously involved in the program, including Bruce Bowler (center). Farley Miller photo As it nears its 25th anniversary, the GNATS program has completed 217 Gulf of Maine crossings with over 50 scientists on its team (at one point or another). Transitioning from the Scotia Prince to the 48-foot R/V Bowditch has required adjustments, including bumpier rides and more frequent refueling. However, as Drapeau likes to say, “With change comes advantages.” Collecting ocean color data requires sunlight, and weather can be finicky. Now, the new vessel allows the team to adapt to the forecast. “We don’t have to load up our mobile laboratory and drive to some faraway port anymore,” Mitchell said. “We can just drive down the hill to our dock. It makes it much easier to jump on the boat quickly and go when the conditions are right.” The setup has also encouraged the team to rethink how science can improve the program, such as enhancing sample collection and updating instrument software. In August, the team launched its first “shakedown” cruise, setting the stage for future research. Bruce Bower and Jelena Godrijan, two scientists who, like Drapeau, had previously participated in the program under Balch’s leadership, returned to assist with the expedition. “It’s hard to know what might come next,” Drapeau said. “But if there’s a time to learn more about the Gulf of Maine, it’s now.” Comments are not available on this story. Send questions/comments to the editors.
