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Daniel Radcliffe is speaking out about his career ties to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Tony-nominated actor Radcliffe has previously assured franchise fans that Rowlings transphobic remarks are in no way indicative of the Potter actors own sociopolitical views. Now, Radcliffe is untangling the nuances of Rowlings legacy.

It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic, Radcliffe told the Atlantic, while also confirming he has had no direct contact with Rowling since her tweets in June 2020.

Russian oil product exports slumped to a post-pandemic low in April, according to tanker tracking data, as Moscow battles to repair its Western refineries which remain under siege from Ukrainian drones.

Seaborne Russian export loadings of diesel, fuel oil, naphtha and other refined products picked up slightly in the second half of April to average 1.94 million b/d, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea. The April average marks a 360,000-b/d slump on March and almost 700,000 b/d below January levels when Ukraine began a barrage of long-range drone strikes on Russian refining capacity. Flooding also took the 116,000-b/d Orsk refinery offline for two weeks during the month.

The last time Russian product exports fell below 2 million b/d was during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns in mid-2020.

After a three-week hiatus, Ukraine launched one of its largest drone strikes to date on April 27, when 66 drones were downed over Russia's Krasnodar region, according to Russia's defense ministry, leaving both its Ilsky and Slavyansk refineries damaged. On April 30, a fire broke out at Russia's 342,000 b/d Ryazan refinery after a new drone strike on the facility.

Some 600,000 b/d of refining capacity currently remains offline as Russia rushes to repair damaged units, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights estimates, down from more than 1 million b/d last month.

Russia's biggest fuel exports -- diesel and gasoil -- averaged 737,000 b/d in April, down 137,000 b/d from the previous month and 240,000 b/d since January, the data showed. Russia's April oil product export slump was led by fuel oil, however, which shrank 147,000 b/d on the month and 220,000 b/d since January. Exports of naphtha, gasoline and VGO were down by 72,000 b/d, 58,000 b/d and 61,000 b/d on March respectively.

Russian oil product exports have fallen to their lowest level in four years, following successful Ukrainian drone strikes on the country's oil refineries. Enkorr reports, citing data from S&P Global Commodities at Sea, exports of Russian oil products in April 2024 dropped significantly, registering a four-year low.

Tanker activity analysis indicates a significant downturn in Russian oil shipments. The damage sustained by several refineries due to the Ukrainian drone raids has resulted in decreased production and a subsequent export slump.

In the latter half of April, Russia's daily fuel, heavy oil, and other product exports totaled 1.94 million barrels - the lowest since 2020, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Diesel and heating oil exports in April averaged 737,000 barrels per day, a decrease of 137,000 barrels from March and 240,000 barrels less than January's figures.

"The average figures for April show a decline of 360,000 barrels a day compared to March, and almost 700,000 from January, when Ukraine began a barrage of drone strikes," the article notes.

Experts estimate that due to Ukraine's strikes, Russia has lost approximately 600,000 barrels per day of refining capacity. Restoring the damaged facilities is proving costly and complex due to sanctions. Despite these challenges, Moscow has so far managed to maintain control over the situation by ramping up production at refineries that were not affected by the strikes.

Fandom is terrible, no wiki wants them and several are currently in the process of leaving specifically because of what theyve done

Joe Biden has been surprisingly successful as a President with his accomplishments so far. Really hope he gets reelected come November. Yes, he isn't perfect, but Trump is so much worse.

DUBAI Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia, which has disrupted global shipping to display its support for Palestinians in the Gaza conflict, is now offering a place for students suspended from U.S. universities after staging anti-Israeli protests.

Students have rallied and set up tents at dozens of campuses in the United States to protest against Israel's war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.

Demonstrators have called on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel's right to defend itself, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded schools divest from companies that support Israel's government.

Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.

"We are serious about welcoming students that have been suspended from U.S. universities for supporting Palestinians," an official at Sanaa University, which is run by the Houthis, told Reuters. "We are fighting this battle with Palestine in every way we can."

Sanaa University had issued a statement applauding the "humanitarian" position of the students in the United States and said they could continue their studies in Yemen.

"The board of the university condemns what academics and students of U.S. and European universities are being subjected to, suppression of freedom of expression," the board of the university said in a statement, which included an email address for any students wanting to take up their offer.

The U.S. and Britain returned the Houthi militia to a list of terrorist groups this year as their attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea hurt global economies.

The Houthi's offer of an education for U.S. students sparked a wave of sarcasm by ordinary Yemenis on social media. One social media user posted a photograph of two Westerners chewing Yemen's widely-used narcotic leaf Qat. He described the scene as American students during their fifth year at Sanaa University.

It would be good to see him drown.

After three decades of fighting, it appears the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has finally come to an end. On April 28, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke with one another on a phone call discussing a forthcoming treaty and a conclusion to the war. During the session, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that Armenia would hand over four villages to Azerbaijan in an attempt to stabilize relations between the two countries.

The Armenian leader said that it was a priority to ensure that peace became a reality. By making this decision, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that he believed that it would help with the feasibility of peace.

The Armenian official has previously stated that he was seeking solutions to try to resolve the conflict peacefully. Prime Minister Pashinyan also fears that there could be future conflicts between the two countries. Thus, by pursuing peace, and by trying to collaborate with his Azerbaijani counterparts, the Armenian leader is hoping that this will limit the probability of future attacks as well as a new conflict.

His decision, however, was met with stiff opposition. While the Armenian leader is working to bring an end to the bloody and ongoing conflict, dozens of Armenians have protested the announcement. Opponents of the peace agreement have argued that Armenia should not capitulate to Azerbaijani authorities after the brutal attack on Nagorno-Karabakh last year. They also believe that Azerbaijan is seizing territory that rightfully belongs to Armenia.

These sentiments are understandable, given the long and complicated history between Armenia and Azerbaijan. When the conflict first began in the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia. Similarly, nearly half a million Armenians were forced to leave Azerbaijan. Thousands of citizens have died throughout the three-decade conflict, and many more have been injured.

Now, both governments face a new problem. As Azerbaijan looks to claim the new villages, as well as the region, thousands of Armenians have been forced to relocate. The Armenian government is now working hard to try and incorporate these Armenians into the country. However several challenges remain. First, according to the World Food Programme, nearly one-fourth of Armenias population faces. In addition, according to the World Bank, one-fourth of Armenians live within the poverty rate. Unfortunately, the introduction of refugees will put a further strain on the Armenian economy.

But helping these displaced Armenians is the right thing to do. It will be challenging, but the Armenian government feels an obligation to help its people, especially with the brutal aftermath of Azerbaijans surprise attack last year.

Meanwhile, reintegration efforts for Azerbaijan have also been challenging. Following the recent developments in the region, the Azerbaijani government stated that residents in Nagorno-Karabakh would be treated equally. They would also be granted Azerbaijani citizenship. Despite these promises, the Azerbaijani government has not said how it would provide citizenship documents and other forms of identification to these individuals.

Furthermore, many Azerbaijanis have opted to relocate to Nagorno-Karabakh. But as the region begins to transform under Azerbaijani hands, it is unclear how the socio-economic situation will unfold in the area. This could lead to further complications for residents in the area.

In other words, while Armenian and Azerbaijani officials may be meeting to try and resolve the conflict, the reality on the ground is far from over. The Armenian government and the Azerbaijani government will need time, money, and resources to ensure that citizens of both countries are compensated for the damages that occurred during the conflict. These displaced individuals will need necessities like food, water, clothing, and shelter. They will also need jobs in order to make stable incomes, and they will have to adjust to the new reality.

In short, while the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan may be over, there is much more that needs to be done to ensure that peace is maintained. Otherwise, if Armenian and Azerbaijani citizens are unable to assimilate in their new homes, and if further strains are put on the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments, then this could lead to greater and more drastic problems for the region.

Now, more than ever, the international community should provide financial and humanitarian assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan to assist these countries with this latest development. Such actions may help stabilize the region, and perhaps even lead to true peace.

And to think we have "serious" users here who think Iran offering free college to US protestors is a good thing.

The second any of those protestors tried protesting in Iran they would wind up like these women.

Please, someone, revoke my goddamn CE access.

Typical Blue MAGA posters who have proven my point. Keep it up, it's entertaining.

An Iranian teenager was sexually assaulted and killed by three men working for Iran's security forces, a leaked document understood to have been written by those forces says.

It has let us map what happened to 16-year-old Nika Shakarami who vanished from an anti-regime protest in 2022.

Her body was found nine days later. The government claimed she killed herself.

We put the report's allegations to Iran's government and its Revolutionary Guards. They did not respond.

Marked "Highly Confidential", the report summarises a hearing on Nika's case held by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - the security force that defends the country's Islamic establishment. It includes what it says are the names of her killers and the senior commanders who tried to hide the truth.

It contains disturbing details of events in the back of an undercover van in which security forces were restraining Nika. These include:

One of the men molested her while he was sitting on her.

Despite being handcuffed and restrained, she fought back, kicking and swearing.

An admission that this provoked the men to beat her with batons.

There are numerous fake Iranian official documents in circulation, so the BBC spent months checking every detail with multiple sources.

Our extensive investigations indicate the papers we obtained do chronicle the teenager's last movements.

Nika Shakarami's disappearance and death were widely reported, and her picture has become synonymous with the fight by women in Iran for greater freedoms. As street protests spread across Iran in the autumn of 2022, her name was shouted by crowds furious at the country's strict rules on the compulsory veil [hijab].

The Woman, Life, Freedom movement had been sparked just days earlier by the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini. She died from injuries sustained in police custody according to a UN fact-finding mission after being accused of not wearing her hijab properly.

In Nika's case, her family found her body in a mortuary more than a week after she disappeared from a protest. But Iran's authorities denied Nika's death was connected to the demonstration and, after conducting their own investigation, said that she had died by suicide.

Just before she vanished, Nika was filmed on the evening of 20 September near Laleh Park in central Tehran, standing on a dumpster setting fire to hijabs.

Others around her chanted "death to the dictator" - referring to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Not boycott Biden and let Trump win like a lot of radical leftists seem to want.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A three-judge panel ordered Wednesday that two county commissioners in West Virginias Eastern Panhandle be removed from office over a month after they were arrested for purposefully jilting their duties by skipping public meetings.

Circuit Court Judges Joseph K. Reeder of Putnam County, Jason A. Wharton of Wirt and Wood Counties and Perri Jo DeChristopher of Monongalia County wrote in a written decision that Jefferson County Commissioners Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson engaged in a pattern of conducted that amounted to the deliberate, wilful and intentional refusal to perform their duties.

Krouse and Jackson who is also a Republican candidate for state auditor were arrested in March and arraigned in Jefferson County Magistrate Court on 42 misdemeanor charges ranging from failure to perform official duties to conspiracy to commit a crime against the state. The petition to remove the two women from office was filed in November by the Jefferson County prosecutor's office, and the three-judge panel heard the case in late March.

Neither Krouse or Jackson responded to emails from The Associated Press requesting comment.

In a public Facebook post, Jackson said she is working with an attorney to appeal the decision and that she is still running for state auditor.

An election has been overturned and the will of the people has been subverted," Jackson wrote. I have no intention of surrendering and plan to challenge this unjust decision every step of the way."

The matter stems from seven missed meetings in late 2023, which State Police asserted in court documents related to the criminal case that Krouse and Jackson skipped to protest candidates selected to replace a commissioner who resigned. They felt the candidates were not actual conservatives, among other grievances, according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint asserted that between Sept. 21 and Nov. 16, 2023, Krouse and Jackson's absences prevented the commission from conducting regular business, leaving it unable to fill 911 dispatch positions, approve a $150,000 grant for victim advocates in the prosecuting attorneys office and a $50,000 grant for court house renovations.

The county lost out on the court house improvement grant because the commission needs to approve expenses over $5,000.

Both Jackson and Krouse continued to receive benefits and paychecks despite the missed meetings. They began returning after a Jefferson County Circuit Court order.

https://twitter.com/hugolowell/status/1786484570595963129