Many people around the world, including Indians, regarded the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as an independent and impartial organization. However, when billionaire businessman Elon Musk tweeted the label "government-funded media" in reference to the BBC's official Twitter handle, the organization disputed that label, saying it was funded through a license fee paid by the British public. But how does the BBC raise money without being government-funded? In reality, the broadcaster has a legal power to collect a license fee from every household in the United Kingdom for independent funding, meaning that every household that owns a television is required to pay for the television license. The BBC enforces compliance with this requirement by having its own private army of enforcers, who raid households and prosecute more than 100,000 people annually, many of them poor, immigrants, and elderly individuals. The dark underbelly of this sophisticated global "liberalism" highlights a private media organization's potential to engage in UK government-licensed extortion in the name of independent funding, which could have concerning implications for media freedom and impartiality.

Calls for the resignation of Sen. Dianne Feinstein grow louder as her absence from Congress hampers the confirmation of President Joe Biden's judicial picks. Feinstein, the oldest-serving member of the Senate, has missed 60 of the 82 votes taken in the Senate so far in 2023 due to her hospitalization and health issues. Sen. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, urged Feinstein to resign as her absence from Congress undermines the credibility of elected representatives of the people. Meanwhile, ex-speechwriter for former President Barack Obama and co-founder of the progressive media company Crooked Media, Jon Lovett, called on Feinstein to resign immediately as her absence is preventing Democrats from confirming judges. Feinstein's office has not released any statement regarding these calls for resignation. The political turmoil takes place as Democrats gear up for a competitive primary race for Feinstein's seat in 2024.

Purported U.S. intelligence documents leaked online have revealed the possibility of the Ukraine war continuing well beyond 2023. As many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are said to have been killed or injured in this brutal conflict already. One document claims that the Russian campaign in the Donbas region is now heading towards a stalemate, thereby thwarting Moscow's plan to capture the whole area. This map shows the area of Russia's operations, pinpointing their positions.

U.S. officials have cast doubts on the veracity of the files, and some countries, including Russia, have dismissed them as fake. This comes amid reports that top-secret Pentagon documents have appeared online, panicking U.S. officials, who are scrambling to ensure their secrecy. However, multiple U.S. sources suggest that some of the materials have not been forged, regardless of possible manipulation.

Justin Pearson, one of the two black freshman democrats who were expelled from Tennessee’s House of Representatives after demanding the implementation of common sense gun control legislation, has been reinstated after the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to send him back to the statehouse. Pearson’s colleague, Justin Jones, was also reinstated earlier this week. The expulsion of the lawmakers occurred after the March 27 shooting at a Nashville private elementary school that killed three children and three adults. Republicans in the statehouse accused Pearson, Jones and Gloria Johnson, the third legislator involved, of creating disorder during a protest against gun violence from the chamber’s floor. Though Johnson narrowly escaped expulsion, Pearson and Jones were removed from the office. Pearson, however, made his return on Wednesday, to represent House District 86 in Memphis. The unprecedented move to expel the legislators resulted in widespread condemnation, with Nashville Mayor John Cooper calling it “undemocratic” and President Joe Biden criticizing the move.

A Delaware judge has sanctioned Fox News after it potentially withheld evidence and made "misrepresentations" to the court in regard to the $1.6 billion defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion accused Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories about their role in the 2020 presidential election. The judge has ordered Fox News to pay for additional depositions that Dominion requires and is considering appointing a special master to investigate Fox's previous claims in the case. The special master was already involved in the case to oversee the discovery process, but a new investigation into potential sanctions against Fox News would be a significant development on the eve of the trial. Last week, Fox News produced recordings of conversations between Maria Bartiromo and Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and others in relation to the case. The recordings could be "obviously relevant" to the case as they go to questions of actual malice, said one of Dominion's attorneys.

Early Thursday morning, Japan issued an evacuation order to residents of the northern island of Hokkaido through the J-Alert emergency warning system, as a North Korean missile was expected to land on or near the Japanese territory. However, the warning was lifted later that morning after officials said the missile landed outside Japanese territory in waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. Many residents criticized the government’s response, calling the J-Alert ineffective and instilling unnecessary fear in the population. Some pointed out that even if the missile had been heading towards Japan, there would not have been enough time to find shelter. This incident follows numerous issues with the J-Alerts in the past, including a malfunction last October that alarmed residents in nine Tokyo islands after North Korea fired a ballistic missile. Tensions remain high in the region as North Korea continues to conduct missile tests in reaction to joint military drills between the US and South Korea.

The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was forced to shut down after areas near Hollywood, Dania Beach, and Fort Lauderdale were hit by a life-threatening flash flood. Reports from NWS Miami described the affected region as receiving more than 20 inches of rain within just six hours on Wednesday afternoon. As the entrance and exit roads around the airport remained flooded and congested, airport officials announced the immediate closure of the facility to flights and roadway traffic until further notice. Social media platforms were filled with images of the extent of the flooding in the region. Drivers were advised to avoid the area while passengers were urged to check with their respective airlines for information regarding updated flight schedules. Record-breaking rainfall caused runways at the airport to be inundated with almost a foot of rain, grounding aircraft. While the airport will soon reopen, the financial and temporal costs of damage to the facility and struggle of passengers remains to be accounted for.

Newly released audio of 911 calls and body camera footage from the Louisville shooting at Old National Bank on Monday provide details of the chaotic scene surrounding the tragedy. Panicked callers described an active shooter and gunshots in the background, while a mother of the perpetrator tried to prevent the situation by alerting police, saying her son was armed and heading towards the bank. Five people were killed and eight were injured in the shooting. The perpetrator, Connor Sturgeon, was named the suspect of the shooting later that day after he was identified as an employee at Old National Bank. His family said in a statement that while he had mental health issues, there were no warning signs he would carry out such a violent attack. The Louisville community came together to mourn at a vigil on Wednesday evening, where leaders and advocates called for gun reform and a bipartisan solution to stop tragedies like this from happening again.

Federal prosecutors have decided not to bring charges in connection with the death of Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, NC, last year in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Ms. Robinson had been on vacation in Mexico with six friends. She was found unconscious with a severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation, or the dislocation of a ring-shaped bone that supports the skull. A widely circulated video appears to show her being beaten by another woman. The US Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina said prosecutors and the FBI had delivered the news of their decision to Ms. Robinson's family. The available evidence did not support a federal prosecution, said the U.S. Attorney's Office, adding that "it is important to reassure the public that experienced federal agents and seasoned prosecutors extensively reviewed the available evidence." Ms. Robinson's cause of death had been classified as "accidental or violent."

Police in Northern Ireland have informed the US Secret Service that a potentially sensitive document related to President Joe Biden's visit to Belfast was found on a city street. The document detailed how officers planned to keep the city safe during Biden's stay at the Grand Central Hotel. Local reports suggest that it was from the Police Service of Northern Ireland and that it contained information on road closures, commanders assigned to various posts, and phone numbers. The man who found the document described it on a BBC radio show. However, no details of Secret Service's security plans or operations were included, so the president's movements were unaffected. Biden visited Northern Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland. He will continue his trip in the Republic of Ireland, where he will meet Ireland's president and taoiseach, or prime minister, and address a joint session of the Irish Parliament.

On Monday evening, a fire broke out at the South Fork Dairy farm near Dimmitt, Texas. The fire spread quickly through the holding pens, where thousands of dairy cows crowded together waiting to be milked, trapped in deadly confines. After subduing the fire, officials were stunned at the scale of livestock death left behind; 18,000 head of cattle perished in the fire - which could be the largest single-incident death of cattle ever recorded in the US. A dairy farm worker rescued from inside the structure was taken to an area hospital and was in critical but stable condition as of Tuesday. There were no other human casualties. A malfunction in a piece of equipment at the South Fork Dairy farm may have caused an explosion that led to the fire, said County Judge Mandy Gfeller, the county's top executive. Texas fire officials are still investigating the exact cause. The disaster could cost millions of dollars, with Texas producing nearly 12 billion pounds of milk in 2022 and employing thousands of people in the dairy industry.

National Public Radio (NPR) has left Twitter after a dispute with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The dispute started when Musk replied to a tweet from NPR, calling them out for inaccurately reporting on his recent comments. NPR then replied sarcastically, and Musk responded with a satirical comment. The exchange ended with NPR unfollowing Musk and deleting their tweet. The next day NPR left Twitter altogether, with a statement saying “we’re leaving @Twitter because they don’t take harassment seriously. Our journalistic mission is to report the truth, not to be constantly harassed on our platform. Goodbye.” Musk, who has had numerous clashes with journalists and news organizations in the past, has not yet commented on NPR’s departure from Twitter. While Twitter has been criticized for not doing enough to combat harassment on the platform, it is unclear what specific event or incident led to NPR’s decision to leave. Some have suggested that Musk’s influence and power may have played a role in the decision. Regardless, the incident highlights the ongoing challenges that many news organizations face in the current media landscape.

The mother of the Louisville mass shooter, Ronald Sturgeon, called 911, pleading for help just before the shooting that left three people dead, including the shooter. Meanwhile, hospital staff are also speaking out in desperation, urging for gun violence prevention. Surgeon had just been notified of being fired from his job at Old National Bank, and had premeditated the shooting in response. The shooter had purchased the AR-15 rifle legally just a week before the incident. In his Instagram livestream, he is seen shooting his former colleagues in the bank with the weapon, which he had previously failed to load properly. The shooting, which occurred on Monday morning, sent 9 people to the hospital, including rookie officer Nickolas Wilt, who remains in critical condition. Though 6 of the victims have been discharged and 1 is in fair condition, 57-year-old Deana Eckert died at the University of Louisville. Hospital staff are calling for changes that will reduce gun violence so that they can save people before it’s too late.

Videos allegedly showing the beheading of Ukrainian soldiers have been posted on social media, and are purportedly committed by Russian mercenaries, specifically members of the Wagner Group. The videos suggest that the Wagner Group has committed war crimes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, an area where they have been heavily involved in the violent conflict. The Geneva Convention prohibits the desecration of dead bodies in war. The Russian private military company has been repeatedly accused of war crimes in Ukraine, with many instances reported of mutilations and despoilment of dead bodies. There have also been accusations of other human rights violations in other countries including Mali, where the group has been undertaking operations alongside the Malian military. As of January, the Wagner Group has been designated a transitional criminal organization by the White House. The allegations of war crimes made against the group highlight the intensification of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the increasingly graphic and cruel tactics employed by both Russia and Ukraine.

Japan's Prime Minister's Office issued an evacuation order on Thursday after North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile that was expected to fall near the country's northernmost prefecture. The country's J-Alert warning system was activated about 20 minutes after the launch and residents were urged to take shelter inside buildings or underground. However, soon after the warning, the system retracted the order, indicating that it had made an erroneous prediction. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile that fell in the sea east of the Korean Peninsula. While the missile was expected to land on Japan's north island of Hokkaido, it fell outside the country's exclusive economic zone. The launch marked the latest in a series of weapons tests that North Korea has recently carried out in response to the US-South Korea military exercises, which the country claimed were exacerbating tensions.

Ahead of President Joe Biden's 25th-anniversary speech for the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, sensitive security documents were reportedly lost by local police. A U.S. law enforcement official confirmed the authenticity of the documents that contained names of Belfast police and postings, but contained no Secret Service security plans. It was understood that a local resident had found the documents on the street and returned them. Prominent parts of Belfast city center were barricaded due to the raised threat level of terrorism, a backdrop of this security breach. Despite the situation, a U.S. Secret Service official conveyed trust in local authorities, calling it "confident in our partners." In the past, the Secret Service has successfully navigated security challenges under the Biden administration. Despite local police losing sensitive documents, the significance of the information contained in them was downplayed by the official.

A federal court in Texas has ruled that the FDA must be held accountable for its illegal approval of chemical abortion drugs in 2000, stating that the agency ignored science, skipped required tests, and stripped away common-sense safeguards on dangerous drugs. Thousands of Americans, including medical practitioners, 67 members of Congress, and the attorneys general of 23 states, asked a federal court to hold the FDA accountable for its illegal persistence in keeping dangerous chemical abortion drugs on the market. The decision came in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys on behalf of four medical associations and four doctors. Chemical abortions have a complication rate four times that of surgical abortions, and around 20% of women who use chemical abortion drugs need medical help afterward. The drugs are also specifically designed to kill a human being. Women who use these drugs have a range of adverse effects, from hemorrhaging to severe infection and inability to have a successful future pregnancy.

Documents containing sensitive security information related to President Joe Biden's visit to Belfast were lost ahead of his speech on Wednesday. A resident is believed to have found the documents on a street in Belfast. While the documents included names of Belfast police and postings, they did not have any information related to the Secret Service's operations or its security plans for the president's visit. The breach in security occurred as the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland had been raised to "severe" prior to Biden's visit, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended a 30-year-long civil war in Northern Ireland. The area around Belfast's city center was barricaded off to protect the president. Despite the mishap, a Secret Service official confirmed continued trust in local authorities and downplayed the significance of the information contained in the police documents. The Secret Service has, over recent months, faced several security challenges during Biden's administration, including navigating the president's surprise visit to Ukraine earlier this year, ahead of the anniversary of Russia's invasion.

As the Chicago Bulls prepare for their upcoming play-in game, veteran forward DeMar DeRozan has offered some packing tips to his teammates. DeRozan’s advice is to pack with the understanding that they might have to play another game or two just in case. In the play-in tournament, the winner proceeds to another destination while the loser is done. DeRozan, who has experience in play-in games, stressed the need to take the games seriously and put all their chips on the table. He also urged his teammates to go into the games with the approach that they used to beat the big teams during the season. The Bulls are currently the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference and have a 38-42 record. They will face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, but DeRozan, who is one of their key players, is listed as questionable for the game due to fatigue. The Bulls are hoping to make the playoffs through the play-in tournament, and their core three players, including DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic, are expected to start against the Detroit Pistons in their last regular-season game on Sunday.

As the NBA regular season comes to a close, the Toronto Raptors are gearing up for the play-in tournament. They secured the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, which means they need to win two games to make it to the official playoff bracket. The play-in tournament includes the teams that finished between the seventh and tenth positions in each conference. In the first game of the tournament, the seventh-seeded team hosts the eighth-seeded team, and the winner advances to the playoffs as the seventh seed. The loser hosts the winner of the ninth and tenth seed matchup. The winner of this game advances to the playoffs as the eighth seed, facing the top-ranked team in the conference. The Raptors are set to play against the Chicago Bulls in their first game, which will take place in Toronto and broadcasted on ESPN at 6:00/6:30 p.m. CT on April 12. The winner will advance to play either the Hawks or Heat to decide who gets the eighth seed on April 14. If they can make it into the playoffs, the Raptors will likely face the Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite a convincing end to the regular season, the Toronto Raptors fell to the Chicago Bulls in an elimination game during the NBA Play-In tournament. The Raptors started off the game strong and had a 19-point lead, but were eventually outmatched by the impressive performance of Chicago's Zach LaVine, who scored 30 of his 39 points in the second half. The Raptors' season thus came to an end, with internal drama surrounding head coach Nick Nurse still looming large. Nurse's ongoing differences with Raptors President Masai Ujiri were speculated as the reason behind a recent decision to bench Jeff Dowtin, and Nurse himself recently expressed an interest in considering his future in Toronto. Despite the off-court issues, the team performed well during their final regular-season game and is now left with questions to answer ahead of the offseason. Will they work to resolve their internal conflicts and come back stronger next season? Or will Toronto's struggles continue to manifest themselves in a disappointing fashion in the years to come?

Miami is drowning in a week-long deluge, as heavy rainfall floods thoroughfares and inundates roadways, causing travel chaos across the southern Florida city. The downpour follows weeks of scorching heat and dry conditions, and while some are delighted to have respite from the sun, others are expressing concerns about the long-term effects of the weather. Typical rush hour lanes were inundated with three feet of water in some parts of the city, leaving drivers floundering and stalling in the middle of flooded streets. The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for northern Miami-Dade and advised citizens to avoid some parts of the city prone to heavy flooding, including Overtown and Allapattah. Videos and pictures on social media show cars attempting to drive through waist-high water and drivers pushing stalled-out vehicles through inundated streets. The floodwaters will take days to recede, especially in such a waterlogged city, where deluge drains sometimes struggle to cope with the volume of water. The rain is forecast to continue for the remainder of the week.

During the game on Wednesday between the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors, a nine-year-old girl, Diar DeRozan, could be heard screaming at the top of her lungs every time the Raptors tried to score a free throw. Seated near the court next to one of the baskets, Diar's continuous screams managed to throw off the Raptors, resulting in them missing 18 of the 36 free throws attempted, and ultimately costing them the win.

DeMar DeRozan, who played his first nine seasons with the Raptors and now stars for the Bulls, was very pleased to see his daughter in the audience and won't be chastising her for her distracting cheers. After their win, DeRozan stated that he owes her some money for her contribution to the Chicago Bulls' win.

While the Raptors have struggled recently, the missed free throws could have secured them a playoff slot in spite of their increasingly difficult season.

Silver Airways, a regional carrier known for Florida and Bahamas flights, could lose its lease at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport due to non-payment of rent. The county commission will vote on the issue on Tuesday, with the incumbent leaseholder being behind on payments for years, despite negotiations with the county. As of December last year, the airline owed the aviation department almost $958,000 in fees and late payments, which accumulated after the county took its $113,634 security deposit. Additionally, the county wants Silver to pay over $407,000 to replenish its security deposit. Silver is yet to pay, and the amount due continues to grow. "Business is business," said County Mayor Lamar Fisher, adding that one needs to pay the bills. The aviation company is requesting a negotiated resolution to the matter. The lease termination could mean trouble for Silver Airways, which has more than 300 workers in Broward County, despite having flight operations continue as normal at the airport.

Chicago Bulls point guard Alex Caruso has made a name for himself with his exceptional defensive skills. The NBA's new seven-year collective bargaining agreement includes a minimum requirement of 65 games played for players to be eligible for year-end awards, including All-Defensive team selection. Although the new requirement doesn't go into effect until next season, Caruso has played in 64 games so far this season. Even if Caruso plays in every remaining game, he would barely make the minimum 65 games played. According to Caruso, the new minimum is a good thing as it rewards players who competed through injuries, but being named to the All-Defensive team is not essential for him to prove he is one of the best defenders in the game. Caruso's peers believe he is one of the toughest assignments out there, according to a Bleacher Nation article. Caruso says it would be "cool" to be on the All-Defensive team, but his goal is to play his part in his team winning games.