NoneAP News Summary at 5:42 p.m. EST
Israel Hits the Houthis in Yemen After Their Slow EscalationA step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected garden
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State expands homeless services with $10M in grantsThe Aam Aadmi Party’s emphatic victory in the assembly byelections in Punjab has come as a shot in the arm for chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The by-elections to four assembly seats were seen as a midterm litmus test for the AAP government in the state following its poor showing in the April-May parliamentary polls, where it won only three of the 13 Lok Sabha seats. However, AAP triumphed in Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal assembly seats, wresting them from the Congress with significant margins for the first time. The party had failed to win these three seats in the 2022 Punjab polls, despite its historic victory with 92 of the 117 seats in the state assembly. AAP lost the fourth seat, Barnala, which it won in the previous two elections, to the Congress by a narrow margin of 2,157 votes, largely due to rebellion in the district unit. The district unit chief contested independently after the party leadership overlooked his claim and gave the ticket to a close associate of Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who had vacated this seat. Though the loss in Barnala is a setback, the AAP’s overall strong showing in the bypolls came at a crucial time for the chief minister, who led the campaign and was joined by party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, amid growing rumblings within the ruling party regarding the grassroots perception about the state government’s working. Over the past three months, speculation has been rife about the central leadership’s tightening grip over the state’s governance following one-to-one meetings held by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal with the cabinet ministers, senior officers, and municipal commissioners as well as a shake-up in the top echelons of the state administration, including the chief minister’s team, as part of a midterm course correction exercise. Ashutosh Kumar, a political science professor at Panjab University, said that the AAP got the advantage of being the incumbent as was the trend witnessed in the general and byelection election results announced on Saturday in different states across the country. “The election results will provide a huge relief to the chief minister as well as silence his critics. The AAP central leadership will also like to showcase this success in Delhi where it is going to face an electoral test in three months,” he said. During the elections, the ruling party faced challenging times due to a procurement crisis which sparked farmers protests over the tardy lifting of paddy stocks and mismanagement. The farmers had directed their ire at the state government, pushing it on back foot. However, the state authorities quickly got into action to manage the situation before it had any major political fallout for the ruling party.JERUSALEM (AP) — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization's director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with a crew member injured. “The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the social media platform X. He added that he and U.N. colleagues were safe. “We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave,” he said, without mentioning the source of the bombardment. The Israeli strikes followed several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel. The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Iran-backed Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports in the cities of Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib, along with power stations, asserting they were used to smuggle in Iranian weapons and for the entry of senior Iranian officials. Israel's military didn't immediately respond to questions about Tedros' post but issued a statement saying it had "capabilities to strike very far from Israel’s territory — precisely, powerfully, and repetitively.” The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned" as his military has battled those more powerful proxies of Iran. The Houthis' media outlet confirmed the strikes in a Telegram post, and the Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah reported multiple deaths. Iran's foreign ministry condemned the strikes. The U.S. military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days. The United Nations has noted that the targeted ports are important entryways for humanitarian aid for Yemen, the poorest Arab nation that plunged into a civil war in 2014 . Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv , while other missiles and drones have been shot down. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting Monday in response to an Israeli request that the council condemn the Houthi attacks and Iran for supplying weapons to the rebels. 5 journalists killed in Gaza Meanwhile, an Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight , the territory's Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said that all were militants posing as reporters. The strike hit a car outside Al-Awda Hospital in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The journalists were working for the local news outlet Al-Quds Today, a television channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group. Islamic Jihad is a smaller and more extreme ally of Hamas and took part in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, which ignited the war. The Israeli military identified four of the men as combat propagandists and said that intelligence, including a list of Islamic Jihad operatives found by soldiers in Gaza, had confirmed that all five were affiliated with the group. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant groups operate political, media and charitable operations in addition to their armed wings. Associated Press footage showed the incinerated shell of a van, with press markings visible on the back doors. Sobbing young men attended the funeral outside the hospital. The bodies were wrapped in shrouds, with blue press vests draped over them. The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the start of the war. Israel hasn't allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza except on military embeds. Israel has banned the pan-Arab Al Jazeera network and accused six of its Gaza reporters of being militants . The Qatar-based broadcaster denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its war coverage, which has focused heavily on civilian casualties from Israeli military operations. Another Israeli soldier killed Separately, Israel's military said that a 35-year-old reserve soldier was killed during fighting in central Gaza early Thursday. A total of 389 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground operation more than a year ago. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in an attack on nearby army bases and farming communities. They killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead. Israel's air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry. It says more than half the fatalities have been women and children, but doesn't say how many of the dead were fighters. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The offensive has caused widespread destruction and driven around 90% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps along the coast, with little protection from the cold, wet winter. Also Thursday, people mourned eight Palestinians killed by Israeli military operations in and around the city of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli military said that it opened fire after militants attacked soldiers, and it was aware of uninvolved civilians who were harmed in the raid. ___ Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed. A previous version of this story was corrected to show that the name of the local news outlet is Al-Quds Today, not the Quds News Network. ___ Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Josef Federman And Wafaa Shurafa, The Associated Press
Beyoncé ignites outrage with controversial gesture Beyoncé performs at NFL halftime show on Christmas Day Hollywood star Beyoncé's highly anticipated performance at the NFL halftime show on Christmas Day, has ignited a storm of controversy on social media. The Crazy in Love star entertained a packed crowd at NRG Stadium and appeared to make a gun gesture while on stage, during the Christmas Day matchup between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. As she performed her hit single Texas Hold’Em , Beyoncé made the gesture by holding up two fingers, mimicking a pistol. At the same time, a large banner reading the word 'BANG' was unfurled behind her as she stood on a specially erected scaffolding. The gesture quickly raised eyebrows, particularly because the NFL has strict policies banning players from making similar gestures on the field. Fans took to social media to express their outrage, questioning why the same rule didn’t apply to the star. "Is the @NFL going to fine @Beyonce for finger guns?!" one viewer posted on X (formerly Twitter). Another user added, "How many players were fined for that?" A third user poured in frustration, "Where is the flag on Beyoncé for the finger guns?!" One fan quipped, “Still not sold on Beyoncé as a country artist. Still seems like a pop star that just threw a cowboy hat on." Another commented on the irony of the situation, noting, "It's also hilarious that the league has been fining players left and right for finger guns and she's throwing them around like it's her job." Keira Knightley reveals real reason why she’ll never watch ‘Love Actually’ Brad Pitt wraps up shoot for highly anticipated movie Lily Allen makes rare comment amid separation rumours with David Harbour Sir Rod Stewart’s Christmas turns to grief after heartbreaking lossA woman left with botched breasts after a boob job gone wrong in Turkey says she "knew something wasn’t right" the minute she woke up. Mum-of-two Stacey Bates was left with messy scars, wonky nipples and uneven breasts after a surgeon allegedly told her "time for sleepy bye bye" and put her under the knife. The 29-year-old claims she wasn’t even consulted about the size of the implants that were being fitted - and believes the clinic randomly chose her implants "off the shelf" without any consideration as to what would be appropriate for her body. Stacey, from Bedale, North Yorkshire, said: "I was seduced by the price, but as soon as I woke up from the general anaesthetic, I knew something wasn’t right. The surgeon chose the implant size without a detailed consultation. It felt like they just grabbed one off the shelf. They also did not inform me about having a catheter inserted. The fear is you may not make it home and see your kids again.” Stacey had thought about having breast augmentation for a breast reduction and uplift for years. After seeing an advert for a clinic in Turkey on social media earlier this year, the 29-year-old filled in an online consultation. Having been impressed with the communication and price, which totalled £3,500 including flights, Stacey decided to go for it. But her dreams would quickly crumble when she discovered there was more to the operation than she realised. She said: “I was instructed to walk around shortly after surgery and left with drains dangling, which I was told to empty myself. I’d had to leave [my children] for so many days and then I was worried that when I got home I wouldn’t be able to pick them up.” Stacey said the experience failed to live up to her expectations from the moment she landed in Turkey in January. She explained: “They told me the transport would be a private minibus, but when I arrived, I was sharing it with others. After arriving, I was taken to the hotel, then went to the hospital for pre-surgery checks, including blood tests and a brief meeting with the surgeon to mark areas for surgery. Payment was also collected from the bed on the day of surgery, but I did not see the surgeon on the day. I observed other patients on surgical beds and had to transfer myself onto a cold, hard operating table. When I was laid on the table the surgeon said ‘time for sleepy bye bye’ and that really freaked me out." Stacey says she decided to go ahead with the procedure despite her doubts and initial confusion over who was going to perform it. On the day her drains were removed, she was sent straight to the airport to fly home - but needed a trip to A&E upon her return to the UK when her stitches became infected. She said: “After returning home, the stitches became infected, and I was unable to contact the surgeon directly, only communicating with the provider. I had to seek treatment at A&E and was prescribed antibiotics.” When Stacey told the clinic about her concerns over the results, they asked her to contact them again in January 2025 to discuss options. Stacey claims they mentioned that additional surgery would require another payment, but that doctor fees would be reduced. Stacey is now working with London-based Pall Mall Medical to have revision surgery, which will include correcting bad scarring and repositioning her nipples. She also plans to have an uplift and implant revision in January 2025. According to the latest figures, 28 Britons have lost their lives due to complications from overseas procedures since 2019, including seven deaths in 2024 alone. Stacey has shared her story to help warn the public about the dangers of low-cost cosmetic procedures abroad. She said: “I just wish I'd stayed here in the UK to get it done, where you've got that reassurance if something goes wrong you can contact your surgeon. If you're not happy with the results, you've got that guarantee. Whereas you haven't got anything doing what I did. I went for the price, and now I’m having to pay again, so it's cost me more in the long run. Definitely do your research. Don't go by price. Look into each company and surgeon and make sure you know the process.” Dr Simon Theobalds, an A&E doctor and Pall Mall GP, spoke of his growing concern over the rising number of cases involving botched surgeries. He said: “We see patients drawn in by deals for half-price tummy tucks or breast augmentations. “But these clinics often don’t match the safety standards required in the UK. Language barriers can also lead to misunderstandings, and hygiene standards are often compromised. People don’t realise they may be treated by unqualified practitioners, and unfortunately, some end up paying the ultimate price - their life.”
Bills' rivals continue to be laughing stock of the NFL | Sporting NewsVIDEO: Stolen pickup truck sparks police chase in downtown Victoria
As stocks roll toward the end of the year, the Nasdaq is now up almost 33% and the S&P 500 has a 27% gain. The Nasdaq is running behind last year's 43.4% pace. But the S&P 500, up in four of the past five years, is now vying to top its 28.8% gain from 2019. IBD's Stock Market Exposure guide holds at the 80% to 100% level as indexes run at or near record highs. Distribution days remain low. But breadth has deteriorated sharply in December, with decliners outpacing gainers on the S&P 500 for seven straight sessions through Thursday. Investors should therefore be paying close attention to stocks that are extended, or which are not behaving well after breakouts. ( ) and ( ) are the heavy hitters on the coming week's earnings calendar. The Federal Reserve's policy announcement could stir some market action midweek. Buying opportunities are modest, but some interesting possibilities include ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ) and ( ). Technip is in buy range. Confluent is setting up in a long consolidation. Taiwan Semi has a new base on base. Goldman and Fortinet's short consolidations are not yet full bases. Economic Calendar: Divining The Fed's 2025 Strategy Any suspense over whether the Fed would cut its key interest rate went by the wayside with the November CPI and PPI, reported on Dec. 11. A quarter-point rate cut is virtually certain. But suspense remains over what the Fed might signal for 2025. The Fed's new set of quarterly projections, to be released with the policy statement on Wednesday, might only signal a half-point in cuts, to a range of 3.75% to 4%. On the data front, retail sales for November, out Tuesday, are expected to rise a solid 0.4% overall, and 0.5% excluding autos, FactSet says. Personal income and outlays, out Friday, will include November's update of the core PCE price index, the Fed's key inflation rate. Blue Chip Radar: Focusing On Nike's New Chief With ( ) and ( ) in the midst of healthy rallies, Nike continues to grovel through a downtrend begun early last year. On Thursday, its fiscal 2025 report faces expectations for ongoing steep earnings and revenue declines. The outlook doesn't offer much relief. Analysts have been lowering price targets for the Dow Jones retailer ahead of the report, with UBS noting Monday that sales growth trends have deteriorated over the past three months, forcing retail price cuts. Morgan Stanley on Friday said it thinks investors will focus more on commentary from new CEO Elliott Hill, who took over for John Donahoe in October. Transportation: Tracking FedEx Air, Ground Consolidation FedEx reports fiscal second quarter 2025 earnings and revenue after the market closes on Thursday. Analyst consensus sees narrow earnings and sales gains. The company has implemented several cost-cutting initiatives in recent months, including combining its ground, air and other operations in a single company. The goal is to reduce costs by $4 billion by the end of its current fiscal year, ending in May. But shares gapped down sharply on Sept. 20 after cost cuts did not offset weakness in lucrative priority services. FDX stock then fell out of a two-month rebound in early December, finding support at its 10-week moving average. Aerospace: Benefiting From Boeing's Struggles ( ) checks in with its Q4 results late Thursday. Investors will listen for progress on the aircraft components maker's recent acquisitions, including a specialty components maker and, separately, U.S. producers of jet cabin components and power distribution systems. They will also be tuned to any news suggesting that Heico is benefiting from Boeing's (BA) ongoing struggles, including its recent strike. With a year-to-date gain of 44%, Heico is now approaching a 10-year advance of 850%. 2025 Outlook: Underestimating the S&P 500 Standard & Poor's reported operating earnings for S&P 500 companies rose to record levels in Q3, the seventh straight quarter of positive results. At the end of last year, FactSet analysts set their bottom-up target price for the S&P 500 at 5131.92. The index on Friday traded at 6051, 18% above the estimate. Over the previous 20 years (2004 – 2023), FactSet reports the average difference between the bottom-up target price estimate at the beginning of the year (Dec. 31) and the final price for the index for that same year has been 6.9%. Stock Market Earnings In Brief ( ) will post its fiscal first-quarter results early Wednesday. The electronics contract manufacturer is predicted to earn $1.88 a share, down 28% year over year, on sales of $6.61 billion, down 21%. After consolidating since March, Jabil is in a cup-with-handle base with a buy point of 139.21. ( ) will deliver its fiscal first-quarter results late Wednesday. Analysts see the memory-chip specialist earning $1.76 a share, vs. a year-earlier loss of 95 cents a share. Sales are forecast to rise 84% to $8.7 billion. ( ) reports on its Q4 performance Wednesday. Analysts predict the maintenance services supplier's quarterly profit will slip 14% to 87 cents per share with sales easing to $2.08 billion. ABM stock has gained 26% in 2024 and is below a cup-with-handle buy point of 59.15. ( ) serves up its fiscal first-quarter earnings early Thursday. Analysts project a 5% increase in adjusted earnings to $3.42 per share, according to FactSet. Sales for the management consulting firm are seen rising 6% to $17.2 billion. Accenture stock has spent most of 2024 consolidating and is just below a buy point in a cup-with-handle base. Additional Earnings Briefs ( ) reports early Thursday. Analysts see a 10% EPS jump on a 5% sales gain. Same-store sales are seen rising 1.5%. That would mark a rebound after three weak quarters, during which the parent of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains saw a sharp pullback among inflation-weary, lower-income consumers. ( ) reports Q4 results early Friday. FactSet estimates put earnings at 7 cents per share, up from a loss of 7 cents last year. Revenue is expected to rise 10% to $5.92 billion. The stock, up 39% in 2024, is trading at its best level since late 2021. Barclays raised the stock's price target to 31 Friday, 20% above current levels.
Ugly scene as Crows run out to hated song
Rivers empowers 10 youths with AW139 helicopter engineering trainingWhen Russian scientists released a pair of orphaned Amur tiger cubs into the wild in a remote corner of Russia’s far-east in 2014, they were trying to save a species. While the tigers, sometimes called Siberian tigers and the world’s largest big cats, remain endangered, the scientists created something else: an unlikely love story. The cubs, Boris and Svetlaya, had been rescued from the wild as unrelated three- to five-month-old cubs in the Sikhote-Alin mountains, the animals’ main stronghold. They grew up in captivity and were released at 18 months old. The cats were separated by more than 160 kilometres with the goal of expanding the distribution of released tigers as much as possible in the Pri-Amur region along Russia’s border with China. Amur tigers Boris and Svetlaya, observed by a trail camera in 2018. Credit: ANO WCS/The New York Times The scientists tracked the cubs until, more than a year after their release, something strange happened: Boris walked more than 200 kilometres, almost in a straight line, to where Svetlaya had made a home. Six months later, Svetlaya gave birth to a litter of cubs. While the strategy of releasing rescued cats raised in captivity to restore populations in the wild had proven successful with the Iberian lynx in Spain, it had never been tried with big cats. But scientists working with the Wildlife Conservation Society say in a study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management that the successful release of rescued cubs like Boris and Svetlaya may, for the first time, become a viable option for restoring wild tigers to their historical range. Estimates of the number of tigers left in Russia range from 485 to 750. But researchers say that the Russia-China border area, including the Pri-Amur area where Boris and Svetlaya live, could support hundreds more of the animals. The reunited cats were not the project’s only successful reintroductions. Two hunters had found another female, Zolushka (or “Cinderella” in Russian), in a snow drift a few years earlier. After the conservationists returned her to the wild, an unknown male tiger showed up on a camera trap near where Zolushka had been released. In such a vast area, it was an encounter of extraordinary good fortune. “Cinderella’s prince showed up and they lived happily ever after,” said Dale Miquelle, lead tiger scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society and an author of the study. Zolushka and the male also produced a litter of cubs, the first known cubs to be born in that area since the 1970s. Kolya Rybin, one of the authors of the study, examining the cub Boris, after capture and immobilisation. Credit: The New York Times In all, Russian scientists raised 13 orphaned Siberian tiger cubs in captivity, avoiding any contact between the growing cubs and their human caretakers to prepare them for life in the wild. The team gradually introduced the cubs to live prey so they could learn how to hunt. Also critical to the success was the timing of the cubs’ release: during spring when prey was plentiful. One male cub failed the test of freedom. He wandered into China and preyed on domestic animals, including 13 goats in one shed in a single night. Russian scientists recaptured the young male and sent him to a captive-breeding program at a zoo. But the remaining 12 proved they were able to hunt wild prey and to survive as well as wild tigers that had never spent time in captivity. As the Pri-Amur population grows, the Russian-American team hopes it can join up with other tigers, including across the border in China. “The grand vision is that this whole area would be connected,” said Luke Hunter, executive director of the Big Cats Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “There’s lots of habitat that could be recolonised by tigers.” With so much potential habitat across Asia – a 2023 study found there was about 700,000 square kilometres of potentially suitable habitat across Asia where tigers remained absent – the implications of this success are wide-ranging. “These results indicate that it is possible to care for young cubs in a semi-captive environment, teach them how to hunt and to release them back into the wild,” said Viatcheslav Rozhnov, former director of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and leader of the reintroduction project. “These findings provide a pathway for returning tigers to large parts of Asia where habitat still exists but where tigers have been lost.” The Russian-American team hopes that it can join up with other tigers, including across the border in China. Credit: naturepl.com / Edwin Giesbers/WWF And just as Boris and Svetlaya’s unlikely partnership has proved critical to the project’s success, the Russian and American scientists hope their efforts may be a model for international conservation co-operation. “It’s a testimony to how really good things can happen when you start working collaboratively irrespective of nationality and politics,” Miquelle said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times . Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter .
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A step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected gardenMicrosoft Azure customers worldwide now gain access to Impartner's Partner Relationship Management (PRM) platform to take advantage of the scalability, reliability, and agility of Azure to drive partner program growth and enhance business strategies. SALT LAKE CITY , Dec. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Impartner , a leading provider of partner management and partner marketing automation solutions, today announced the availability of its Partnership Relationship Management (PRM) platform in Microsoft Azure Marketplace , an online store providing applications and services for use on Azure. Impartner customers can now take advantage of the productive and trusted Azure cloud platform, with streamlined deployment and management. Impartner PRM enables businesses to effectively manage and scale their partner ecosystems. By integrating seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure, the platform offers real-time data synchronization, scalable cloud infrastructure, and enterprise-grade security. Impartner's PRM leverages Dynamics 365 to provide bi-directional data synchronization, streamlining partner management and optimizing the sales pipeline. Customers benefit from improved partner engagement, increased scalability through Azure, and secure compliance with global standards. Impartner's PRM includes AI-powered tools, such as an AI-driven chatbot, that enhance resource accessibility and partner engagement with 24/7 support. By integrating with Dynamics 365 and Azure, Impartner ensures customers can scale their operations and benefit from a cloud infrastructure that supports growth, efficiency, and innovation. "We're excited to make Impartner's PRM available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, enabling businesses to manage and grow their partner ecosystems more effectively," said Ryan Knapp , Global Head of Partnerships at Impartner. "By combining our advanced platform with Microsoft cloud infrastructure, we're helping companies streamline operations, strengthen partnerships, and drive growth. This integration opens up new possibilities for businesses to scale efficiently and innovate with confidence." "Microsoft welcomes Impartner to Azure Marketplace, where global customers can find, try, and buy from among thousands of partner solutions," said Jake Zborowski , General Manager, Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft Corp. "Azure Marketplace and trusted partners like Impartner help customers do more with less by increasing efficiency, buying confidently, and spending smarter." The Azure Marketplace is an online market for buying and selling cloud solutions certified to run on Azure. The Azure Marketplace helps connect companies seeking innovative, cloud-based solutions with partners who have developed solutions that are ready to use. About Impartner Impartner is the fastest-growing, most awarded provider of channel management technologies, including its flagship Partner Relationship Management (PRM) and Partner Marketing Automation solutions. These tools empower organizations worldwide to effectively manage partner relationships, drive demand through partners, and accelerate revenue via indirect sales channels. For more information, visit impartner.com . For more information, press only: Lola Phonpadith Impartner Lola.phonpadith@impartner.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/impartner-partner-relationship-management-platform-now-available-in-the-microsoft-azure-marketplace-302339325.html SOURCE ImpartnerAP News Summary at 5:42 p.m. EST
Dr Charlotte Proudman, who specialises in family law, had faced a Bar Standards Board (BSB) disciplinary tribunal over a 14-part Twitter thread criticising a judge’s ruling over a domestic abuse case, saying it echoed a “boys’ club”. However, the five charges against the 36-year-old were dropped on Thursday. In an interview with The Times, Dr Proudman described the position of Mark Neale, the board’s director-general, as “untenable” and said its chairwoman, Kathryn Stone, should also stand down. “They need a change, not just in those two individuals, though, because, of course, it seeps down to the rest of the organisation,” she said. She told the paper she “genuinely” wanted to work with the Bar Standards Board in helping them to understand how misogyny and sexism have impacted women at the bar. However, she said that “under the current leadership, it’s just not going to be possible”. The charges alleged Dr Proudman had “failed to act with integrity” in posting the tweets, that they amounted to professional misconduct, were “misleading” and “inaccurately reflected the findings of the judge” in the case. The women’s rights campaigner was also accused of behaving in a way “which was likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public placed in her and in the profession”, and that she “knowingly or recklessly misled or attempted to mislead the public” by making the posts. But panel chairman Nicholas Ainley found her tweets are protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right of freedom of expression. He said her tweets did not “gravely damage” the judiciary, which would “put them outside” of Article 10 protection, even if they “might not have been pleasant for any judge to read” or even “hurtful”. “We take the view that the judiciary of England and Wales is far more robust than that,” he said. The panel also concluded that some of the tweets were only inaccurate “to a minor degree” and not to the extent necessary for a charge of a lack of integrity. Speaking after the hearing, Dr Proudman told the PA news agency: “This ruling is a victory for women’s rights and a right to freedom of speech. “The prosecution against me brought by my regulatory body, the Bar Standards Board, should never have happened and I said that from day one. “I criticised a domestic abuse judgment. Everyone should have the right to do that, whether you’re a barrister or not. Our justice system, which I strongly believe in, is robust enough to withstand criticism from me.” She believes her tweets help “foster confidence” in the justice system, adding: “Only that way can we go about building change and a better treatment for all victims, women and children and men who are affected by domestic abuse.” Explaining that the BSB appears to have spent almost £40,000 “of barristers’ money” on instructing counsel in her case, she added: “I think it’s shameful that they’re using our money to pay for, in my view, malicious, vexatious prosecutions which I have no doubt was a personal attack against me as a woman and as a feminist, as an outspoken critic and advocate for women’s rights.” Dr Proudman called for “systemic change” within the board. “They don’t understand gender, they don’t understand diversity, I don’t think they’ve ever heard of the concept misogyny and certainly not institutional misogyny,” she said. “Until they recognise the deeply rooted, entrenched issue of bullying, harassment, sexism at the bar, for which I have suffered relentlessly... and own up to it I don’t think we’re going to see any change and I have no confidence in them.” She told of how male barristers have called her insulting names on social media and made derogatory comments about her. In the posts on April 6 2022, Dr Proudman referenced a case in which her client alleged she had been subjected to coercive and controlling behaviour by her husband, a part-time judge, meaning she had been “unable to freely enter” the couple’s “post-nuptial” financial agreement. Commenting on the ruling by Family Court judge Sir Jonathan Cohen, Dr Proudman wrote: “I represented Amanda Traharne. “She said she was coerced into signing a post-nuptial agreement by her husband (who is a part-time judge). I lost the case. “I do not accept the Judge’s reasoning. I will never accept the minimisation of domestic abuse.” She continued: “Demeaning the significance of domestic abuse has the affect of silencing victims and rendering perpetrators invisible. “This judgement has echoes of (t)he ‘boys club’ which still exists among men in powerful positions.” In the thread, Dr Proudman wrote that the judge had described the relationship of the couple as “tempestuous”, which she argued was a “trivialisation” of domestic abuse. “Tempestuous? Lose his temper? Isn’t this the trivialisation of domestic abuse & gendered language. This is not normal married life,” she wrote.