Day: May 19, 2024

An explosion occurred during an air raid in Odesa.

Russia Ukraine War | World | hjnews.com  The Herald Journal

Russia Ukraine War | World | hjnews.com  The Herald Journal

Surprise: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Might Already Be Used to Allocate Your Retirement Savings  AOL

The President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were involved in a “Significant Helicopter Crash” earlier today while Traveling back from a Diplomatic Meeting in Azerbaijan. The Crash is believed to have occurred in a Heavily Forested Area… pic.twitter.com/mrFfBMSVXl

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 19, 2024

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. Some began urging the public to pray for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped through a misty, rural forest where his helicopter was believed to be.

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Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, the TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.

Traveling with Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.

Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition. However, hard-liners urged the public to pray for him. State TV later aired images of the faithful praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country.

“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV. “Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.”

He added: “The region is a bit (rugged) and it’s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.”

Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a “forest” and the region is known to be mountainous as well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area.

A rescue helicopter tried to reach the area where authorities believe Raisi’s helicopter was, but it couldn’t land due to the heavy mist, emergency services spokesman Babak Yektaparast told IRNA.

Raisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran’s Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.

Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.

Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The U.S. State Department said it was “closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister.”

It added: “We have no further comment at this time.”

AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

• California’s “Honest Pricing Law” will go into effect on July 1, 2024. 
• The law makes it illegal for businesses to advertise a price that doesn’t include all the fees.
• Cruise companies like Carnival Corp. will have to be more upfront about their prices.

A new California law will force cruise lines to be more transparent about their prices, bolstering a Biden administration crusade against junk fees.

Senate Bill 478, also known as the “Honest Pricing Law,” will go into effect on July 1. The law makes it illegal for businesses to advertise prices for goods or services that don’t include all the required fees or charges.

A press release from California’s attorney general said the price transparency law “protects consumers from deceptive price advertising and allows them to make an informed decision by seeing the all-in price of goods or services up-front before they get the bill.”

The new law will impact the travel industry, including cruise lines that operate in California. Companies like Royal Caribbean International and Norweigan Cruise Line will need to make the price of taxes, port fees, and other charges clear to customers up front, according to The Washington Post.

The Princess Cruises’ ship.

James D. Morgan/Getty Images

A Carnival Corp. representative told the outlet it would follow guidelines set out by the “Honest Pricing Law.” Carnival Corp. is the parent company of brands like Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Holland America.

“While this is a California state law, we are making this change nationwide to ensure our advertised pricing is consistent no matter where guests shop for our cruise,” the statement said.

The representative said that from now on, the full advertised cost would include extra charges previously “itemized separately for consumer awareness.”

Norweigan Cruise Lines is still determining their next steps, according to the outlet.

A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean told Travel + Leisure that guests can expect to see extra fees included in the overall price.

“Guests booking with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises will now see pricing that is inclusive of their selected cruise fare and all required taxes and fees,” the statement read. “We are also supporting our travel partners across the country ahead of this upcoming change.”

Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean International

Representatives for Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The California attorney general’s press release said the “Honest Pricing Law” comes as the Biden administration continues to address hidden fees, also known as “junk fees.” The Biden administration first announced its fight against hidden fees in October 2022.

In October 2023, the Biden administration announced it would require banks and credit unions to provide customers with basic information without charging fees.

The Federal Trade Commission also proposed a rule in October 2023 that would ban hidden fees and require all businesses to show the full price of a good or service up front.

Courtesy of the author

• I have three kids, aged 9, 7 and 4. 
• We still go out for meals, despite how hard it is to be out with them eating a meal. 
• The connection we get with them during those meals outweigh the chaos. 

Going to restaurants with our three kids — ages 9, 7, and 4 — is usually a lesson in extreme patience.

There is always inevitably spilled ice water or juice (sometimes directly onto my lap). There is often some arguing among siblings. There is probably some contention over what to order — and why it’s taking “so long” to arrive. And it’s just really hard for our kids to stay still at the table.

But there are a few things that are different from home and make the effort worth it — the most obvious being that we don’t have to cook or clean up after them.

We get to connect as a family

They also get a chance to practice important social skills, like politely ordering what they’d like, being respectful of fellow restaurantgoers’ experiences, noticing and appreciating the wait staff’s hard work, and saying thank you.

The most important part of all though, is the connection time we get. At home, we make an effort to do family meals together, but so often, it doesn’t go the way we hoped. Instead of having connection time, we end up becoming the server of our kids’ own personal restaurant — getting them another drink or making a sandwich for them when they hate the meal.

Our tiny table means the kids can too easily bug each other, so we also end up breaking up fights most nights. But at a restaurant, someone else is doing the serving, cooking, and cleaning, and we get to do the fun parts: talking about our day, playing cards at the table while we wait, and encouraging them to try a fun new dessert.

We choose where to go with our kids in mind

Despite the hard stuff, the good parts make it worth it. And even the hard parts can be made easier by choosing our location wisely. Breweries, wineries, and cider places are surprisingly great fits for kids. They often have a casual atmosphere and backyards (which means space for kids to run around).

Our local cider place in warmer weather has a huge field where we can fly a kite, kick a ball around, and just generally get our wiggles out as a family before settling down to enjoy the meal together. This is a huge contrast to home, where we are frantically trying to get a meal on the table that suits everyone’s tastes and meets basic nutritional requirements. The grownups in the family arrive at the table stressed out, and the kids arrive at the table asking what’s for dinner and often complaining that it’s not their favorite option.

I’d be ignoring the major privilege in this if I didn’t point out that we are lucky to be able to dine out as a family sometimes. Most of the time, we budget and cook our meals at home — for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We often opt to save money by limiting packaged snacks and making muffins and cookies from scratch so it’s cheaper and lasts longer as well. We’re not able to dine out as frequently as we might like, but maybe that’s why we appreciate it all the more when we do get to dine out as a family.

It may be difficult to keep the kids on their best restaurant behavior (and I may leave with juice spilled on my clothes), but ultimately, it’s worth it. Everyone gets to order what they want — even if that’s just fries and dessert. We all get to enjoy each other’s company. And the adults get to have a meal they really love that they didn’t have to cook. Then, we get to walk away together as a family, feeling a little bit more connected — and without washing a single dish.