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A landscape gardener charged with possession of almost €500,000 of cocaine played a “significant role” in transporting drugs for the “Keane” organised crime gang in Limerick, a court heard on Monday. Stephen McNamara, (43), with an address at Woodcock Hill, Meelick, Co Clare, appeared before Limerick District Court, charged with one count of possession of cocaine for sale or supply. Advertisement The drugs were valued at €490,000, gardaí told the court. Detective Garda Brendan McSweeney, Henry Street Garda Station, told the court he arrested Mr McNamara at 5:53pm last Friday, after searching the accused’s car, a black BMW, and discovering seven parcels of suspected cocaine inside the vehicle. Detective Garda McSweeney alleged that Mr McNamara admitted to gardaí, following his arrest, that he had known that he was transporting what he believed to be cocaine. Objecting to bail, Det Gda McSweeney alleged that Mr McNamara had played a “significant role for the Keane organised crime group” and that the accused had been in contact with “leading members” of the gang. Advertisement The court heard Mr McNamara has ongoing drug addiction issues. Detective Garda McSweeney alleged the accused was “caught red-handed” with a suspected “large volume” of cocaine. The garda witness said he believed Mr McNamara would continue to allegedly play a “significant role in the logistics and transportation of cocaine in the city” if he was granted bail. Under questioning from Mr McNamara’s solicitor Sarah Ryan, Det Gda McSweeney agreed the accused was “cooperative” “courteous” and “respectful” to gardaí following his arrest. Advertisement Ms Ryan put it to the garda witness that Mr McNamara was running a “landscaping business” and was “not doing well financially”. Detective Garda McSweeney said he was not aware of any landscaping business and said Mr McNamara “had €2,000 in cash in his possession in his socks” and that he was driving a €35,000 vehicle” when he was arrested. “He (Mr McNamara) sold an Audi for €18,000 last year is is paying €400pm on finance for his (current) vehicle,” the garda added. Ms Ryan said the accused had previously attended at a drug-treatment facility and that he was impacted by two recent bereavements. Advertisement Sergeant Sean Murray, prosecuting, alleged that the accused would, in the opinion of the gardaí, “continue to commit scheduled offences to feed a (drug) habit and assist a known organised crime gang that we know he associates with”. Judge Patricia Harney said she was granting Mr McNamara bail on a number of conditions, including that he lodge €500 with the court, that he be of good behaviour while on bail, that he reside at his home address only, and notify Gardai of any change in his address, and that he sign on daily at Henry Street Garda Station. The judge also ordered that Mr McNamara have “no contact whatsoever, with Christy Keane” as requested by gardaí. “No contact means - no contact - including by means of third party contact, by mobile phone, or on social media,” the judge said. Advertisement The judge also ordered Mr McNamara “stay out of the Singland area of Limerick" as requested by gardaí. The accused was also ordered to “surrender his passport”, provide gardaí with a contact number that is to be charged and in credit at all times, “and to remain alcohol and drug-free while in public”. Ireland Best man escapes jail after causing groom’s death... Read More Sergeant Murray said gardaí were awaiting further directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Mr McNamara, who was supported in court by family members lodged the €500 bail bond that was brought to the court by a relative. He was remanded on bail to appear before Limerick District Court again on March 12th, 2025. A second man, Christy Keane, 63, a native of St Mary’s Park, who was also arrested last Friday as part of the drugs probe, was “released without charge pending further investigations”, a garda spokeswoman said.
Biden opens final White House holiday season with turkey pardons and first lady gets Christmas treeKhrystyna and her husband had just renovated their house by the lake. They had a tradition of taking their three young children into the forest for adventures over the weekends. And the family business was doing well. The couple was about to expand their market stalls in town selling kids' clothing. Then, from one day to the next, everything changed. Khrystyna's town of Kupiansk was one of the first Ukrainian territories to face Russian occupation at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. And immediately, the "Russification" began. Authorities handed out Russian passports, forcibly imposing citizenship on Ukrainian residents. And schools were made to teach a Russian curriculum of propaganda. Any resistance was met with threats and violence, Khrystyna said. The 25-year-old, who is going by her first name only for security reasons, was threatened for speaking Ukrainian. "I heard and saw several times people being struck in the street, or how someone had a bag put over their head and was then taken in an unknown direction," she told the ABC. The town in the Kharkiv region was transformed into what Moscow deemed "little Russia", before being retaken by Ukraine in a September 2022 counteroffensive. Some Ukrainians managed to evacuate, some stuck it out, others disappeared. "My friends' relatives were taken prisoner and detained for five days," Khrystyna said. "Another friend's son was also taken into civilian captivity and he is still missing." After more than 1,000 days of war, about 1.5 million Ukrainians are still living under Russian occupation, according to the United Nations. And Donald Trump's return to the White House is sparking fears about what their future may hold. Analysts and insider reports have widely speculated that the president-elect's promised plans for immediate peace involve Ukraine ceding territory to Russia or freezing the conflict. For civilians in occupied areas, both of those could be "relatively bad outcomes". Russia holds one-fifth of Ukraine Russia still occupies more than 110,000 square kilometres — about 20 per cent — of Ukraine's territory. That is a chunk of land larger than South Australia. It includes Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. About 80 per cent of Donbas is under Russian control, and more than 70 per cent of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. [MAP] Khrystyna's experiences have been echoed across Ukraine's occupied regions. There are numerous reports and documented testimonies from civilians who have lived in Russian-held territory. Human rights organisations, Ukrainian prosecutors and government officials have found evidence of arbitrary or unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, rape, sexual violence, re-education, and children being sent to live in Russia. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations its forces have committed human rights violations during the invasion. The International Criminal Court last year issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges. The Kremlin slammed the allegations as "outrageous and unacceptable". Jessica Genauer, senior lecturer in international relations at Flinders University, said the outlook for Ukrainians in occupied territories was "bleak". "I don't see any outcome at this stage where Russian occupying forces are entirely evicted from Ukrainian territory," she told the ABC. What ceding territory would look like During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine "in a day", but never gave further details. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a "victory plan" that included a refusal to cede Ukraine's territories and sovereignty. Under Russia's terms, Mr Putin has stated Kyiv must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from territory in the four Ukrainian regions currently controlled by Russia. Dr Genauer said Trump would likely pressure Ukraine to "formally" cede some territory. A formal agreement would mean that the sovereign borders would shift, and the occupied territory would officially be recognised as Russia. "So Russia expands and Ukraine shrinks," she said. Ukrainians living in those regions would need to gain Russian citizenship or be treated like foreigners in Russia. Under formal arrangements, Ukrainians would likely be given the opportunity to leave before the territory was handed over, Dr Genauer said. About 59 per cent of Ukrainians now support entering peace negotiations with Russia, according to a study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published in August. Based on about 2,500 nationwide interviews, 60 per cent were unwilling to cede Crimea or any parts of eastern Ukraine. Seventy-seven per cent said negotiations based on the current territorial status quo were unacceptable. So, formally handing over territory would be difficult for Mr Zelenskyy, Dr Genauer said. "I don't think Zelenskyy will be able to agree to such a political settlement without his population's consent," she said. What she instead believes could happen is an unofficial freezing of the conflict along the front lines, allowing Russia to maintain control of Ukrainian territory. "That's probably, in some ways, the best-case scenario that President Zelenskyy can expect under a Trump presidency," she said. But from a Ukrainian perspective, they would both be "relatively bad outcomes". Life under a frozen conflict Freezing the conflict would mean both sides agree to pause the fighting. It would likely put residents living in occupation territories in a grey zone, Dr Genauer said. "They are going to be in a very difficult and quite compromised position." Their political and citizenship status would be in limbo, and Russian forces would remain present. And it would be difficult to protect Ukrainian citizens from possible human rights abuses. "There will be no way to guarantee without a formal agreement that international human rights law will be respected, and that human rights abuses will not be perpetrated," Dr Genauer said. "So it would either be up to people to escape back into Ukrainian territory, and that in itself can be a dangerous journey, or to try to manage within those Russian-occupied spaces." Getting out a 'lottery' Sofiia Gedzenko volunteers with Helping to Leave, an organisation that assists Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territories to evacuate and settle into new homes. The 31-year-old from Odesa said the stories coming out of occupied regions were "truly devastating". She described the conditions in many towns as a humanitarian disaster. "Especially in the regions closer to the front line, often there is no running water, there is no electricity, there is no heating, and the winter is coming," she told the ABC. Ms Gedzenko has been helping people with evacuations for more than two years, and said there was never a guarantee they could get them out. Aid organisations are not allowed inside so it comes down to what happens at the checkpoints. "It's always like a lottery for people if they will be allowed to leave or not," Ms Gedzenko said. "We cannot guarantee anything, especially if it's younger people. There's always a danger. "People have been abducted there, and there are cases when they were abducted and they're kept in some places and they're tortured. Sometimes they let them out afterwards, sometimes not." She said the organisation tried to prepare people and advised them what to delete from their phones. Anyone under 60 years old could be considered a military threat and treated that way, she said. Ms Gedzenko said freezing the conflict and handing territories to Russia would be "inhumane". "Territories are people. We are not just talking about the piece of land," she said. "We're talking about people who have a right to live in their country and not be occupied." Where European allies stand Support for negotiations on a ceasefire has been growing in the West. But NATO members and European allies are yet to articulate what it may look like. At the recent European Political Community summit in Budapest, leaders called for stronger action to defend their continent and support Ukraine. But there has still been no clear-cut path for Ukraine to join NATO, which analysts say is crucial to avoid further Russian aggression. Mr Zelenskyy's push for membership is part of a long-term goal for Ukraine to gain security from Russia. But NATO has said Ukraine cannot join while it is at war because it would draw the alliance directly into conflict with Russia. The Washington Post spoke to several current and former European and NATO diplomats after the summit who said there was also a quiet but growing shift towards allies considering trading land for peace. Yuliya Bidenko, visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) Europe, said Western allies were avoiding NATO plans and lacking unity on alternative options. "In some European capitals, the discussions have gone from either security guarantees or attempts to regain territories to neither of those," she said. "The inability to recover the territories occupied by Russia is the most sensitive and problematic issue for Ukrainian society and will be a challenge for the international order." With her home destroyed in the fighting, Khrystyna finally left Kupiansk and settled in Kharkiv where there were better options for her children. She now helps others evacuate occupied territories and offers any support she can. Khrystyna says many people "think that their lives are over" but she does not want them to lose hope. "Giving up territories is not the answer," she said. "Our country needs peace and safety." ABC
It looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. "The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more," Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. "There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie," said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction." In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation, did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the "no-fault findings," as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report, Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist "saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities." But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's "decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable." A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug "then entered the market through illegal channels," he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles," Li said. "The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice." This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. "Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated," he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. "It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. "Which clearly it has not." Get local news delivered to your inbox!India’s demolition of Australia in Perth was no outlier, but simply an extreme example of the dominance the subcontinental giants have enjoyed down under for seven years. The Indians have won three of their past four Tests in Australia, drawing the other. Further, they have only lost two of their past nine on these shores, winning five and drawing two. Going back to the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when India won in Australia for the first time, the touring batters have comfortably had their hosts covered, averaging 31.31 against just 25. Logically, it’s similar dominance on the bowling front – India’s attack averaging 26.01 to Australia’s 33.27. Virat Kohli celebrates reaching his century – just one area that highlights India’s dominance. Picture: Getty Remarkably, they’ve scored eight centuries across those nine games, to just two from the Australians – one to each of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the 2020/21 series. Unsurprisingly, Jasprit Bumrah has been the standout bowler in that period, taking 40 wickets at 18.80. Pat Cummins is the next highest wicket-taker with 38, but with an average of 25.34. Among bowlers with more than 10 wickets in Australia in Border-Gavaskar Test since India began its winning run, Ravindra Jadeja boasts the next best average – 21.78. The fact Jadeja didn’t even play in Perth epitomises one of Australia’s biggest worries heading into the second Test. Ravindra Jadeja (L) talks with India head coach Gautam Gambhir. Picture: Getty India won in Perth by 295 runs and that was without either of Rohit Sharma or Shubman Gill. Sharma was back home for the birth of his second child, but was in the nets in Perth on Monday, while Gill is expected to return for the second Test. They’re two instant upgrades on rookie duo Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel. All-time greats Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin will also be pushing for selection after a so-so game from Washington Sundar (4 and 29, 0-1 and 2-48). “I think there will be two changes for sure, both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill coming back into the 11,” Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar told Channel 7. “My feeling is that the batting order will change – where Rohit Sharma will replace Rahul, Shubman Gill will bat at three, Padikkal and Jurel will go out of the team, Rahul will bat at six. “One other change that could happen is that Jadeja comes in in place of Washington Sundar.” Stand-in captain Bumrah also hinted Mohammed Shami could be back in time for the Adelaide Test. If fit, Shami will take India’s attack to the next level, forming a daunting pace triumvirate with Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. More Coverage Fairytale endings put under the knife by Indian drubbing Ben Horne Skipper’s perfect 10 as Aussies’ dismal Test laid bare Daniel Cherny and Ben Horne Originally published as The undeniable numbers that prove India has Australia’s number – and why worst is still to come Sport Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News. Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories NRL Hunt joins NRL powerhouse in boom signing Ben Hunt has finally made up his mind on his NRL future, joining one of the league’s biggest clubs in a blockbuster move. Read more AFL Saddest detail of Swans coach bombshell The Sydney Swans have confirmed John Longmire has quit as coach with sad details emerging about the shock news. Read more
Top federal prosecutor resigns to make way for Trump’s replacementBy MICHELLE L. PRICE NEW YORK (AP) — Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration, becoming the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation. Sheriff Chronister, the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Florida, said in a post on X that he was backing away from the opportunity, which he called “the honor of a lifetime.” “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” Chronister wrote. He did not elaborate, and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Chronister follows former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz , Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general, in withdrawing his name for a post in the administration. Gaetz withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. Trump’s pick of Chronister for the DEA job drew backlash from conservatives, who raised concerns over his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and his saying that his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities.” In March 2020, Chronister arrested the pastor of a megachurch who held services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place aimed at limiting the spread of the Covid virus. “Shame on this pastor, their legal staff and the leaders of this staff for forcing us to do our job. That’s not what we wanted to do during a declared state of emergency,” Chronister said at the time. “We are hopeful that this will be a wakeup call.” U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, was among those airing public complaints, saying Chronister should be “disqualified” for the arrest. Others flagged comments Chronister made in a video about Florida’s immigration laws that he released in 2023 that circulated again online after Trump named him last weekend. Related Articles National Politics | Trump team signs agreement to allow Justice to conduct background checks on nominees, staff National Politics | President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money conviction National Politics | Democrats stick with Schumer as leader, their strategy for countering Trump is far less certain National Politics | Trump vows to block Japanese steelmaker from buying US Steel, pledges tax incentives and tariffs National Politics | Democrats’ outgoing chair says Trump’s win forces party to reassess how it reaches voters In the video, Chronister praised the “rich diversity” of his community and called it “a place where people from all walks of life come together.” He said it was important to note his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities. We do not target individuals based on their immigration status. That’s the authority of federal agencies.” Trump has made a sweeping crackdown on immigration a central focus of his campaign and his aims for his coming administration. Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida contributed to this report.
SAY the name JK Rowling and be ready to take cover as sanctimonious snowflakes screech hate about her views on transgender people. But attempts by leftie woke warriors to cancel the Harry Potter author have failed, with news she will definitely play a key role in a £1.6billion, ten-year TV adaptation of her books about the boy wizard. Advertisement 10 JK Rowling has not let the woke army distract her, with news she will definitely play a key role in a £1.6billion, ten-year TV adaptation of her books about the boy wizard Credit: Getty 10 Daniel Radcliffe Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, stars of the Harry Potter movie franchise, have previously slammed her comments on transgender rights Credit: Alamy 10 The Harry Potter author commenting on double rapist 'Isla Bryson' who wanted to be sent to a women's prison Credit: Twitter/JK Rowling Furious trans activists had complained about Rowling being an executive producer on the show, which is being made in Britain for American TV channel HBO’s streaming service Max. Rowling has previously come under fire for claiming the “trans women are women” mantra is “idiotic”, and for campaigning to preserve safe spaces and women’s toilets for biological females only. JK Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement. HBO But she denies being transphobic — and now excitement about the new TV project has drowned out calls for a boycott of her participation. At the weekend, HBO said: “We are proud to once again tell the story of Harry Potter — the heartwarming books that speak to the power of friendship, resolve and acceptance. Advertisement READ MORE ON JK ROWLING LORDS SNUB JK Rowling says she's turned down peerage TWICE after call for her to join Lords “JK Rowling has a right to express her personal views. “We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.” The announcement has quietened those who have lined up to deny the 59-year-old her views on transgender questions. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, stars of the Harry Potter movie franchise, have previously slammed her comments on transgender rights. Advertisement Most read in News TV BALLSED UP Lorraine apologises on air for using phrase she 'didn't know' was a swear word BEACH BABE Jean Johansson flaunts incredible toned figure & endless legs on Barbados beach HOST'S PAIN BBC's Glenn Campbell makes shock admission as he gives tumour battle update COMIC'S CASTLE Still Game star takes £150,000 hit to offload luxury £4m Scots castle Casting open to public But Daniel, who played Harry, and Rupert, famed as Potter’s pal Ron Weasley at wizard school Hogwarts, have now both said they are looking forward to HBO bringing back the characters they played in eight films. And well they might — the TV series, which promises to “dive deep into each one of the iconic books” is a seriously big deal. Neville Longbottom delivers an emotional speech Thousands of children have auditioned to play Harry, Ron and their friend Hermione Granger — portrayed in the films by Emma Watson — ahead of the expected start of filming in the spring . Meanwhile, Gary Oldman , who played wizard Sirius Black in the movies, has put his hat in the ring for future projects, saying, “Maybe in a few years I can play [Hogwarts headmaster] Dumbledore”. Advertisement His former fellow cast members, including Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Jim Broadbent , have all defended Rowling’s right to express her opinions. If there’s a better hill to die on than the rights and safety of women and children, I’ve never found it. JK Rowling These public displays of support for the writer reflect a shift in Holly-wood, which appears to be tiring of political correctness, which has proven to be a turn-off at the box office. Four years ago when Rowling mocked “people who menstruate” as a term to describe “women”, she faced a huge backlash from stars including Emma Watson. But rather than be cowed by the criticism, JK has continued to stand up for her beliefs. Advertisement Last week she posted defiantly: “If there’s a better hill to die on than the rights and safety of women and children, I’ve never found it.” The appeal of the story of orphan schoolboy Harry who discovers he has magical powers appears to be just as strong as ever. Since the first novel was published in 1997, and followed by six sequels, more than 600million books have been sold across the world. Shops selling merchandise, such as scarves and wands, continue to open and next month streaming platform Amazon Prime Video launches a Great British Bake Off-style TV show titled Harry Potter: Wizards Of Baking. Advertisement When anti-Rowling campaigners called for a boycott of the Hogwarts Legacy video game last year, their protest had little or no effect as sales soared past 12million in just a couple of months. Meanwhile, stage play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child is still going strong in London’s West End after eight years. 10 Four years ago when Rowling mocked 'people who menstruate' as a term to describe 'women', she faced a huge backlash from stars including Emma Watson Credit: Getty 10 Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe has also been critical of the author who made him famous Credit: Getty Advertisement 10 Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasely, is another member of the film franchise who has attacked Rowling's campaigning Credit: Getty It is no surprise, then, that HBO parent company Warner Bros, whose eight Harry Potter films made around £ 7 billion combined, was keen to return to the Hogwarts school of Witch-craft and Wizardry. The movie giant’s streaming channel Max, previously known as HBO Max, will air the TV series in 2026. Succession and Killing Eve producer Francesca Gardiner will lead the project with British director Mark Mylod, whose CV includes Game Of Thrones. Advertisement There are rumours Brit actor Mark Rylance, star of BBC period drama Wolf Hall, is in line to play Hogwarts Professor Albus Dumbledore . In September it was announced that the casting process for all the young Hogwarts characters — from Harry to his nemesis and fellow wizarding student Draco Malfoy — would be open to the public. They are looking for talented kids aged nine to 11 who live in the UK or Ireland. No acting experience is necessary, although show bosses have also been scouting stage schools. Advertisement The website taking applications has now closed due to the huge response. It is a massive boost for the British TV industry, with the bulk of the series set to be made at Warner Bros’ studios in Leavesden, near Watford. The budget for each of the ten seasons is reckoned to be around £159million and the plan is to film each series back to back because bosses do not want the cast to age too much on screen. But it will be tricky because there are strict regulations about the hours school-age actors and actresses are allowed to work. Advertisement Daniel Radcliffe, now aged 35, who had the most scenes in the Potter movies, had to be taught on set between shoots. He earned a reported £86million from the films but it is unlikely any of the wannabe Harrys eyeing up the TV gig would enjoy the same sort of payday. Daniel has backed the remake, saying: “It’ll be cool to see the torch get passed on.” Rupert Grint agrees, telling GQ magazine: “I’d love to see Harry Potter be adapted into a TV show. Advertisement “It would really work.” Rowling, who is worth an estimated £945million, retains the rights to her books and she has always insisted strongly on having her say about any Potter-related projects. It was thanks to the Gloucestershire-born author, who now lives in Scotland , that the movies were not Americanised. HBO and Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys says Rowling has been “very, very involved in the process of selecting the writer and director” for the telly series. Advertisement Bloys also denied that her comments about trans issues had “affected the casting or hiring of writers or production staff”. Indeed, Warner Bros are not the only ones who wish to work with the hugely imaginative writer. Even though the BBC twice apologised last year after Rowling was described during its programmes as “anti-trans”, the corporation keep adapting her Cormoran Strike crime novels into TV shows. Activists are trying to organise yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show. As forewarned is forearmed, I’ve taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne. JK Rowling This December, her fictional detective played by Tom Burke will return for a BBC One four-part dramatisation of her 2022 novel The Ink Black Heart. Advertisement Meanwhile, plenty of actors are backing JK. Broadbent, who played Hogwarts’ Professor Horace Slug-horn in two Potter films, said, “JK Rowling is amazing”, and Bonham Carter, who portrayed evil Bellatrix Lestrange, commented: “She has been hounded.” Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort, described the attacks on the author as “appalling”, and Evanna Lynch, witch Luna Love-good in the films, said: “I do wish people would just give her more grace and listen to her.” But this type of comment is at odds with much of Gen Z. Advertisement Not that JK is too worried about being cancelled, as she just shrugs if all off. Read more on the Scottish Sun 'DISAPPOINTED' Harry Potter steam train blasted by passengers who 'dreaded' return journey COLD BEERS SPFL side spotted going for a PINT after their bus got stuck in the snow Last April she said: “Activists are trying to organise yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show. “As forewarned is forearmed, I’ve taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne.” 10 There are rumours Brit actor Mark Rylance, star of BBC period drama Wolf Hall, is in line to play Hogwarts Professor Albus Dumbledore Credit: Getty Advertisement 10 Rowling has not been afraid to tweet her opinions on trans issues - such as the case of Andrew Miller, also known as Amy George, who identifies as a transgender woman Credit: Twitter/JK Rowling 10 Rowling on the case of Sandra Norris who was convicted for possession of child sex abuse images Credit: Twitter/JK Rowling 10 The author makes her feelings known about Kate Neeves being appointed as the UN Women UK delegate Credit: Twitter/JK Rowling JK HAS DEFIED HATE By Julie Bindel, feminist and friend of JK Rowling JK ROWLING’S pinned tweet, in response to a trans activist claiming he burns her books and toasts marshmallows over the flame, reads: “I get the same royalties whether you read them or burn them. Enjoy your marshmallows!” Having bullied the majority into submission for so long, these activists are now losing ground. Increasingly, they are ignored and sidelined. Rowling is a feminist hero. Since first speaking out against the crazed gender ideology that has swept much of the world, including treasured institutions, she has made an immeasurable difference to women and girls everywhere. As one of the most famous authors ever, Rowling had no need to take a stand on this contentious, toxic issue – she did it because she could not remain silent. Having spent millions supporting orphaned children and other disadvantaged groups through her charitable work, she decided that adding her voice to the fight against those determined to see an end to female-only spaces and facilities would be worth the inevitable backlash. And what a backlash: in addition to innumerable rape and death threats, she has been publicly maligned by those whose fame and fortune she helped create. The actors who played Harry, Ron and Hermione have all stuck the knife in. As a lesbian, and as someone lucky enough to be able to call Rowling a personal friend, I know their claims are utter fabrication. Calls to boycott the new HBO Harry Potter TV series is nothing but bullying and posturing. I don’t know how those responsible sleep at night, when the ideology Rowling speaks out against leads to children being unnecessarily medicalised for life. Asked by a trans activist why she wanted to “die on this hill”, Rowling replied in her usual forthright manner: “If there’s a better hill to die on than the rights and safety of women and children, I’ve never found it.”Mixed reactions to Tjibaou's election to New Caledonia pro-independence party
Most pass rushers in the NFL switch sides and rush from various alignments. That includes all the elite players, mainly so that defensive coordinators can get them free from the attention that they will face on a down-to-down basis. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers do not move T.J. Watt around at all. He rushes off the right tackle all season with very little care paid attention to switching sides or rushing over the interior. The question would be, why? According to insider Mark Kaboly, he believes that Watt might be the one who is resistant to flipping sides. "I don’t know how much he wants to do that,” Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show . “I think partially it has to do with him. He just likes coming from...I mean you remember his rookie year, he was on the other side, didn’t really like it. They flipped him and Bud Dupree and then all of a sudden he took off. But at this point, you’re gonna have to do something a little different. I guarantee if you ask Teryl Austin, he’d be like, ‘Oh we move him around.’ Yeah, you move him around two or three times a game, if that.” Watt leads the NFL in chip rate and consistently gets double-teamed. The Steelers have one of the lowest blitz rates in the NFL. When it comes down to it, Watt does need to move around to get himself free and allow the Steelers' pass rush to pop even more. Whether it is his own opinion or the coaching staff’s, something needs to change, or games such as the one that happened in Cleveland could continue to happen. BETTING: Check out our guide to the best PA sportsbooks , where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks. More Pittsburgh Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers open as underdogs in crucial division game vs. Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers future opponent gets reinforcements, including star running back Pittsburgh Steelers coach floated as college head coach candidate Pittsburgh Steelers' future opponent loses star pass rusher for season Browns safety sends bold message to Pittsburgh Steelers: ‘Come get yo get back’
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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 19, 2024-- Surf Air Mobility Inc. (NYSE: SRFM) (“the Company”,“Surf Air”), a leading regional air mobility platform, announced the appointment of David Anderman to the Company’s board of directors effective December 17, 2024. Mr. Anderman served as Chief Legal Officer of Surf Air from June 2023 to May 2024. Mr. Anderman currently serves as the Co-Founder and General Partner of Stellar Ventures, a venture fund investing in the next generation of space entrepreneurs. Mr. Anderman was General Counsel of SpaceX from June 2019 to December 2020, during which time he supported the launch of satellite internet network Starlink and the launch of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Prior to SpaceX, Mr. Anderman served 16 years at Lucasfilm Ltd., starting as the junior lawyer and rising through the ranks to become General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer. He negotiated the deal to sell Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company in 2012. He has held C-level positions at a series of technology startups. Mr. Anderman began his career as an intellectual property litigator in Silicon Valley. “David Anderman brings valuable experience, insight, and expertise to our board of directors, and to our SurfOS AI-powered software being developed with Palantir to revolutionize aviation management with all-in-one software,” said Carl Albert, Chairman of Surf Air Mobility. About Surf Air Mobility Surf Air Mobility is a Los Angeles-based regional air mobility platform and the largest commuter airline in the U.S. by scheduled departures as well as the largest passenger operator of Cessna Caravans in the U.S. In addition to its airline operations, Surf Air Mobility is currently developing an AI powered airline software operating system and is working toward certification of electric powertrain technology. Surf Air Mobility plans to offer our technology solutions to the entire regional air mobility industry to improve safety, efficiency, profitability and reduce emissions. Forward-Looking Statement This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers of this release should be aware of the speculative nature of forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the beliefs of the Company’s management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company and reflect the Company’s current views concerning future events. As such, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These and other risks are discussed in detail in the periodic reports that the Company files with the SEC, and investors are urged to review those periodic reports and the Company’s other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov , before making an investment decision. The Company assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241219296051/en/ CONTACT: Surf Air Mobility Media Contacts Presspress@surfair.com Investors:investors@surfair.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: DATA MANAGEMENT AIR TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORT SOFTWARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: Surf Air Mobility Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/19/2024 04:15 PM/DISC: 12/19/2024 04:13 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241219296051/enKYIV, Ukraine — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile. escalating the nearly 33-month-old war. The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.” Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday’s Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro. In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was in retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks Friday during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, representatives of the military-industrial complex and developers of missile systems at the Kremlin in Moscow. Putin said Western air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile. Ukrainian military officials said the missile that hit Dnipro reached a speed of Mach 11 and carried six nonnuclear warheads, each releasing six submunitions. Speaking Friday to military and weapons industries officials, Putin said Russia will launch production of the Oreshnik. “No one in the world has such weapons,” he said. “Sooner or later, other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development. “We have this system now,” he added. “And this is important.” Putin said that while it isn’t an intercontinental missile, it’s so powerful that the use of several of them fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with strategic — or nuclear — weapons. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads, echoing Putin’s claim that even with conventional warheads, “the massive use of the weapon would be comparable in effect to the use of nuclear weapons.” In this photo taken from a video released Friday, a Russian serviceman operates at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov kept up Russia's bellicose tone on Friday, blaming “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries” in supplying weapons to Ukraine to strike Russia. "The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns were not taken into account have also been quite clearly outlined," he said. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the European Union, echoed Moscow’s talking points, suggesting the use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Ukraine likely requires direct American involvement. “These are rockets that are fired and then guided to a target via an electronic system, which requires the world’s most advanced technology and satellite communications capability,” Orbán said on state radio. “There is a strong assumption ... that these missiles cannot be guided without the assistance of American personnel.” Orbán cautioned against underestimating Russia’s responses, emphasizing that the country’s recent modifications to its nuclear deployment doctrine should not be dismissed as a “bluff.” “It’s not a trick ... there will be consequences,” he said. Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky speaks to journalists Friday during a joint news conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha in Kyiv, Ukraine. Separately in Kyiv, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called Thursday’s missile strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe.” At a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Lipavský also expressed his full support for delivering the necessary additional air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks.” He said the Czech Republic will impose no limits on the use of its weapons and equipment given to Ukraine. Three lawmakers from Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that Friday's previously scheduled session was called off due to the ongoing threat of Russian missiles targeting government buildings in central Kyiv. In addition, there also was a recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and nongovernmental organizations "in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who said it's not the first time such a threat has been received. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the Oreshnik missile was fired from the Kapustin Yar 4th Missile Test Range in Russia’s Astrakhan region and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. Test launches of a similar missile were conducted in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. Thursday's attack struck the Pivdenmash plant that built ICBMs when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The military facility is located about 4 miles southwest of the center of Dnipro, a city of about 1 million that is Ukraine’s fourth-largest and a key hub for military supplies and humanitarian aid, and is home to one of the country’s largest hospitals for treating wounded soldiers from the front before their transfer to Kyiv or abroad. We're all going to die someday. Still, how it happens—and when—can point to a historical moment defined by the scientific advancements and public health programs available at the time to contain disease and prevent accidents. In the early 1900s, America's efforts to improve sanitation, hygiene, and routine vaccinations were still in their infancy. Maternal and infant mortality rates were high, as were contagious diseases that spread between people and animals. Combined with the devastation of two World Wars—and the Spanish Flu pandemic in between—the leading causes of death changed significantly after this period. So, too, did the way we diagnose and control the spread of disease. Starting with reforms as part of Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s, massive-scale, federal interventions in the U.S. eventually helped stave off disease transmission. It took comprehensive government programs and the establishment of state and local health agencies to educate the public on preventing disease transmission. Seemingly simple behavioral shifts, such as handwashing, were critical in thwarting the spread of germs, much like discoveries in medicine, such as vaccines, and increased access to deliver them across geographies. Over the course of the 20th century, life expectancy increased by 56% and is estimated to keep increasing slightly, according to an annual summary of vital statistics published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2000. Death Records examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to see how the leading causes of death in America have evolved over time and to pinpoint how some major mortality trends have dropped off. According to a report published in the journal Annual Review of Public Health in 2000, pneumonia was the leading cause of death in the early 1900s, accounting for nearly 1 in 4 deaths. By the time World War I ended in 1918, during which people and animals were housed together for long periods, a new virus emerged: the Spanish Flu. Originating in a bird before spreading to humans, the virus killed 10 times as many Americans as the war. Many died of secondary pneumonia after the initial infection. Pneumonia deaths eventually plummeted throughout the century, partly prevented by increased flu vaccine uptake rates in high-risk groups, particularly older people. Per the CDC, tuberculosis was a close second leading cause of death, killing 194 of every 10,000 people in 1900, mainly concentrated in dense urban areas where the infection could more easily spread. Eventually, public health interventions led to drastic declines in mortality from the disease, such as public education, reducing crowded housing, quarantining people with active disease, improving hygiene, and using antibiotics. Once the death rates lagged, so did the public health infrastructure built to control the disease, leading to a resurgence in the mid-1980s. Diarrhea was the third leading cause of death in 1900, surging every summer among children before the impacts of the pathogen died out in 1930. Adopting water filtration, better nutrition, and improved refrigeration were all associated with its decline. In the 1940s and 1950s, polio outbreaks killed or paralyzed upward of half a million people worldwide every year. Even at its peak, polio wasn't a leading cause of death, it was a much-feared one, particularly among parents of young children, some of whom kept them from crowded public places and interacting with other children. By 1955, when Jonah Salk discovered the polio vaccine, the U.S. had ended the "golden age of medicine." During this period, the causes of mortality shifted dramatically as scientists worldwide began to collaborate on infectious disease control, surgical techniques, vaccines, and other drugs. From the 1950s onward, once quick-spreading deadly contagions weren't prematurely killing American residents en masse, scientists also began to understand better how to diagnose and treat these diseases. As a result, Americans were living longer lives and instead succumbing to noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs. The risk of chronic diseases increased with age and, in some cases, was exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyles. Cancer and heart disease shot up across the century, increasing 90-fold from 1900 to 1998, according to CDC data. Following the post-Spanish Flu years, heart disease killed more Americans than any other cause, peaking in the 1960s and contributing to 1 in 3 deaths. Cigarette smoking rates peaked at the same time, a major risk factor for heart disease. Obesity rates also rose, creating another risk factor for heart disease and many types of cancers. This coincides with the introduction of ultra-processed foods into diets, which plays a more significant role in larger waistlines than the increasing predominance of sedentary work and lifestyles. In the early 1970s, deaths from heart disease began to fall as more Americans prevented and managed their risk factors, like quitting smoking or taking blood pressure medicine. However, the disease remains the biggest killer of Americans. Cancer remains the second leading cause of death and rates still indicate an upward trajectory over time. Only a few types of cancer are detected early by screening, and some treatments for aggressive cancers like glioblastoma—the most common type of brain cancer—have also stalled, unable to improve prognosis much over time. In recent years, early-onset cancers, those diagnosed before age 50 or sometimes even earlier, have seen a drastic rise among younger Americans. While highly processed foods and sedentary lifestyles may contribute to rising rates, a spike in cancer rates among otherwise healthy young individuals has baffled some medical professionals. This follows the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. At its peak, high transmission rates made the virus the third leading cause of death in America. It's often compared to the Spanish Flu of 1918, though COVID-19 had a far larger global impact, spurring international collaborations among scientists who developed a vaccine in an unprecedented time. Public policy around issues of safety and access also influences causes of death, particularly—and tragically—among young Americans. Gun control measures in the U.S. are far less stringent than in peer nations; compared to other nations, however, the U.S. leads in gun violence. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens (around 2 in 3 are homicides, and 1 in 3 are suicides), and deaths from opioids remain a leading cause of death among younger people. Globally, the leading causes of death mirror differences in social and geographic factors. NCDs are primarily associated with socio-economic status and comprise 7 out of 10 leading causes of death, 85% of those occurring in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. However, one of the best health measures is life expectancy at birth. People in the U.S. have been living longer lives since 2000, except for a slight dip in longevity due to COVID-19. According to the most recent CDC estimates, Americans' life expectancy is 77.5 years on average and is expected to increase slightly in the coming decades. Story editing by Alizah Salario. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Death Records and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Get local news delivered to your inbox!As open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans continues through Jan. 15, you’re likely seeing fewer social media ads promising monthly cash cards worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars that you can use for groceries, medical bills, rent and other expenses. But don’t worry. You haven’t missed out on any windfalls. Clicking on one of those ads would not have provided you with a cash card — at least not worth hundreds or thousands. But you might have found yourself switched to a health insurance plan you did not authorize, unable to afford treatment for an unforeseen medical emergency, and owing thousands of dollars to the IRS, according to an ongoing lawsuit against companies and individuals who plaintiffs say masterminded the ads and alleged scams committed against millions of people who responded to them. The absence of those once-ubiquitous ads are likely a result of the federal government suspending access to the ACA marketplace for two companies that market health insurance out of South Florida offices, amid accusations they used “fraudulent” ads to lure customers and then switched their insurance plans and agents without their knowledge. In its suspension letter, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cited “credible allegations of misconduct” in the agency’s decision to suspend the abilities of two companies — TrueCoverage (doing business as Inshura) and BenefitAlign — to transact information with the marketplace. CMS licenses and monitors agencies that use their own websites and information technology platforms to enroll health insurance customers in ACA plans offered in the federal marketplace. The alleged scheme affected millions of consumers, according to a lawsuit winding its way through U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale that seeks class-action status. An amended version of the suit, filed in August, increased the number of defendants from six to 12: — TrueCoverage LLC, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based health insurance agency with large offices in Miami, Miramar and Deerfield Beach. TrueCoverage is a sub-tenant of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a building leased by the newspaper in Deerfield Beach. — Enhance Health LLC, a Sunrise-based health insurance agency that the lawsuit says was founded by Matthew Herman, also named as a defendant, with a $150 million investment from hedge fund Bain Capital’s insurance division. Bain Capital Insurance Fund LP is also a defendant. — Speridian Technologies LLC, accused in the lawsuit of establishing two direct enrollment platforms that provided TrueCoverage and other agencies access to the ACA marketplace. — Benefitalign LLC, identified in the suit as one of the direct enrollment platforms created by Speridian. Like Speridian and TrueCoverage, the company is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. — Number One Prospecting LLC, doing business as Minerva Marketing, based in Fort Lauderdale, and its founder, Brandon Bowsky, accused of developing the social media ads that drove customers — or “leads” — to the health insurance agencies. — Digital Media Solutions LLC, doing business as Protect Health, a Miami-based agency that the suit says bought Minerva’s “fraudulent” ads. In September, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in United States Bankruptcy Court in Texas, which automatically suspended claims filed against the company. — Net Health Affiliates Inc., an Aventura-based agency the lawsuit says was associated with Enhance Health and like it, bought leads from Minerva. — Garish Panicker, identified in the lawsuit as half-owner of Speridian Global Holdings and day-to-day controller of companies under its umbrella, including TrueCoverage, Benefitalign and Speridian Technologies. — Matthew Goldfuss, accused by the suit of overseeing and directing TrueCoverage’s ACA enrollment efforts. All of the defendants have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The motions deny the allegations and argue that the plaintiffs failed to properly state their claims and lack the standing to file the complaints. The Sun Sentinel sent requests for comment and lists of questions about the cases to four separate law firms representing separate groups of defendants. Three of the law firms — one representing Brandon Bowsky and Number One Prospecting LLC d/b/a Minerva Marketing, and two others representing Net Health Affiliates Inc. and Bain Capital Insurance Fund — did not respond to the requests. A representative of Enhance Health LLC and Matthew Herman, Olga M. Vieira of the Miami-based firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, responded with a short message saying she was glad the newspaper knew a motion to dismiss the charges had been filed by the defendants. She also said that, “Enhance has denied all the allegations as reported previously in the media.” Catherine Riedel, a communications specialist representing TrueCoverage LLC, Benefitalign LLC, Speridian Technologies LLC, Girish Panicker and Matthew Goldfuss, issued the following statement: “TrueCoverage takes these allegations very seriously and is responding appropriately. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we strongly believe that the allegations are baseless and without merit. “Compliance is our business. The TrueCoverage team records and reviews every call with a customer, including during Open Enrollment when roughly 500 agents handle nearly 30,000 calls a day. No customer is enrolled into any policy without a formal verbal consent given by the customer. If any customer calls in as a result of misleading content presented by third-party marketing vendors, agents are trained to correct such misinformation and action is taken against such third-party vendors.” Through Riedel, the defendants declined to answer follow-up questions, including whether the company remains in business, whether it continues to enroll Affordable Care Act clients, and whether it is still operating its New Mexico call center using another affiliated technology platform. The suspension notification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services letter cites several factors, including the histories of noncompliance and previous suspensions. The letter noted suspicion that TrueCoverage and Benefitalign were storing consumers’ personally identifiable information in databases located in India and possibly other overseas locations in violation of the centers’ rules. The letter also notes allegations against the companies in the pending lawsuit that “they engaged in a variety of illegal practices, including violations of the (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act), misuse of consumer (personal identifiable information) and insurance fraud.” The amended lawsuit filed in August names as plaintiffs five individuals who say their insurance plans were changed and two agencies who say they lost money when they were replaced as agents. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of 55 counts of wrongdoing, ranging from running ads offering thousands of dollars in cash that they knew would never be provided directly to consumers, switching millions of consumers into different insurance policies without their authorization, misstating their household incomes to make them eligible for $0 premium coverage, and “stealing” commissions by switching the agents listed in their accounts. TrueCoverage, Enhance Health, Protect Health, and some of their associates “engaged in hundreds of thousands of agent-of-record swaps to steal other agents’ commissions,” the suit states. “Using the Benefitalign and Inshura platforms, they created large spreadsheet lists of consumer names, dates of birth and zip codes.” They provided those spreadsheets to agents, it says, and instructed them to access platforms linked to the ACA marketplace and change the customers’ agents of record “without telling the client or providing informed consent.” “In doing so, they immediately captured the monthly commissions of agents ... who had originally worked with the consumers directly to sign them up,” the lawsuit asserts. TrueCoverage employees who complained about dealing with prospects who called looking for cash cards were routinely chided by supervisors who told them to be vague and keep making money, the suit says. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began contacting the company in January about customer complaints, the suit says TrueCoverage enrollment supervisor Matthew Goldfuss sent an email instructing agents “do not respond.” The lawsuit states the “scheme” was made possible in 2021 when Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in the wake of the COVID pandemic. The act made it possible for Americans with household incomes between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level to pay zero in premiums and it enabled those consumers to enroll in ACA plans all year round, instead of during the three-month open enrollment period from November to January. Experienced health insurance brokers recognized the opportunity presented by the changes, the lawsuit says. More than 40 million Americans live within 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level, while only 15 million had ACA insurance at the time. The defendants developed or benefited from online ads, the lawsuit says, which falsely promised “hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per month in cash benefits such as subsidy cards to pay for common expenses like rent, groceries, and gas.” Consumers who clicked on the ads were brought to a landing page that asked a few qualifying questions, and if their answers suggested that they might qualify for a low-cost or no-cost plan, they were provided a phone number to a health insurance agency. There was a major problem with the plan, according to the lawsuit. “Customers believe they are being routed to someone who will send them a free cash card, not enroll them in health insurance.” By law, the federal government sends subsidies for ACA plans to insurance companies, and not to individual consumers. Scripts were developed requiring agents not to mention a cash card, and if a customer mentions a cash card, “be vague” and tell the caller that only the insurance carrier can provide that information, the lawsuit alleges. In September, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claims. In addition to denying the charges, they argued that the class plaintiffs lacked the standing to make the accusations and failed to demonstrate that they suffered harm. The motion also argued that the lawsuit’s accusations failed to meet requirements necessary to claim civil violations of the RICO Act. Miami-based attorney Jason Kellogg, representing the plaintiffs, said he doesn’t expect a ruling on the motion to dismiss the case for several months. The complaint also lists nearly 50 companies, not named as defendants, that it says fed business to TrueCoverage and Enhance Health. Known in the industry as “downlines,” most operate in office parks throughout South Florida, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit quotes former TrueCoverage employees complaining about having to work with customers lured by false cash promises in the online ads. A former employee who worked in the company’s Deerfield Beach office was quoted in the lawsuit as saying that senior TrueCoverage and Speridian executives “knew that consumers were calling in response to the false advertisements promising cash cards and they pressured agents to use them to enroll consumers into ACA plans.” A former human resources manager for TrueCoverage said sales agents frequently complained “that they did not feel comfortable having to mislead consumers,” the lawsuit said. Over two dozen agents “came to me with these complaints and showed me the false advertisements that consumers who called in were showing them,” the lawsuit quoted the former manager as saying. For much of the time the companies operated, the ACA marketplace enabled agents to easily access customer accounts using their names and Social Security numbers, change their insurance plans and switch their agents of record without their knowledge or authorization, the lawsuit says. This resulted in customers’ original agents losing their commissions and many of the policyholders finding out they suddenly owed far more for health care services than their original plans had required, the suit states. It says that one of the co-plaintiffs’ health plans was changed at least 22 times without her consent. She first discovered that she had lost her original plan when she sought to renew a prescription for her heart condition and her doctor told her she did not have health insurance, the suit states. Another co-plaintiff’s policy was switched after her husband responded to one of the cash card advertisements, the lawsuit says. That couple’s insurance plan was switched multiple times after a TrueCoverage agent excluded the wife’s income from an application so the couple would qualify. Later, they received bills from the IRS for $4,300 to cover tax credits issued to pay for the plans. CMS barred TrueCoverage and BenefitAlign from accessing the ACA marketplace. It said it received more than 90,000 complaints about unauthorized plan switches and more than 183,500 complaints about unauthorized enrollments, but the agency did not attribute all of the complaints to activities by the two companies. In addition, CMS restricted all agents’ abilities to alter policyholders’ enrollment information, the lawsuit says. Now access is allowed only for agents that already represent policyholders or if the policyholder participates in a three-way call with an agent and a marketplace employee. Between June and October, the agency barred 850 agents and brokers from accessing the marketplace “for reasonable suspicion of fraudulent or abusive conduct related to unauthorized enrollments or unauthorized plan switches,” according to an October CMS news release . The changes resulted in a “dramatic and sustained drop” in unauthorized activity, including a nearly 70% decrease in plan changes associated with an agent or broker and a nearly 90% decrease in changes to agent or broker commission information, the release said. It added that while consumers were often unaware of such changes, the opportunity to make them provided “significant financial incentive for non-compliant agents and brokers.” But CMS’ restrictions might be having unintended consequences for law-abiding agents and brokers. A story published by Insurance News Net on Nov. 11 quoted the president of the Health Agents for America (HAFA) trade group as saying agents are being suspended by CMS after being flagged by a mysterious algorithm that no one can figure out. The story quotes HAFA president Ronnell Nolan as surmising, “maybe they wrote too many policies on the same day for people who have the same income or they’re writing too many policies on people of a certain occupation.” Nolan continued, “We have members who have thousands of ACA clients. They can’t update or renew their clients. So those consumers have lost access to their professional agent, which is simply unfair.” Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.