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A British adventurer has apologised after her claims to be the first woman to traverse Canada’s largest island solo were dismissed by members of the Inuit population who criticised her dangerous “privilege and ignorance”.Camilla Hempleman-Adams, 32, covered 150 miles (240km) on foot and by ski while pulling a sledge across Baffin Island, Nunavut, in temperatures as low as -40C and winds of 47mph during the two-week expedition last month.The trek took Hempleman-Adams, the daughter of the adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung, through Auyuittuq national park.But her claims have been described as incorrect, with local people saying they had travelled the same route for generations.Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, an Inuit artist based in Ottawa, said on Instagram: “There is no way in hell a British colonizer is coming to Inuit Nunaat in 2025 and claiming any firsts.“My gramma walked 100’s of km yearly, often pregnant, to Spring fishing and winter caribou hunting grounds because that was life. Every inch of this continent has indigenous history and stories like this. Help me call out this ignorant and racist behaviour.”Kabloona said the matter had affected the community because many people who lived traditional nomadic lifestyles had died, raising concerns that cultural practices would gradually be lost to time.“The article hit people really hard in a very sensitive spot because of our history and the difficulties we face every day in combatting western colonialism,” she told the BBC.“This woman is coming here from such a place of privilege and ignorance that it seems dangerous. It was almost like she was bringing back news of a new continent to Europe and saying: ‘There’s nobody here!’ We were and still are.”She added: “It’s such a clear example of how colonialism benefits from dispossessing Indigenous people of their land and writing us out of history.”Hempleman-Adams wrote on her expedition website before departure: “Parks Canada has confirmed there are no historical records of a female solo attempt from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung.”Kabloona said this was because crossing the terrain was considered “a normal way of life for them”.Hempleman-Adams, a producer living in London and the youngest British woman to ski to the north pole aged 15, said: “It was never my intention to misrepresent any historical achievements or cause distress to local communities.“Before undertaking the expedition, I researched and verified the accuracy of my claim with Parks Canada and local outfitters in both towns who confirmed that there was no known female solo winter crossing from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung.“However, if this information is incorrect, I apologise unreservedly for making an incorrect claim and for causing offence.”She added she was “truly saddened” that coverage of her trek “may have caused concern or upset … I remain committed to learning from this experience and engaging with the community with the utmost respect.”
A murder-accused man who blamed a friend for killing an Indigenous teenager has admitted he also attempted to frame an innocent man.Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, said prosecutors had it wrong and he did not strike Cassius Turvey in the head with a metal pole in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.He told a jury his co-accused, Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, swung the blows that led to the 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy’s death in hospital 10 days later.Brearley’s girlfriend at the time, Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, and one of his co-workers Mitchell Colin Forth, 26, are also on trial, charged with murdering Cassius.Brearley said Palmer threatened him after the incident and said he would end up in a body bag if he spoke about it.Under cross-examination by the prosecutor Ben Stanwix, Brearley on Thursday agreed he told police he spotted a neighbour near the alleged murder scene with a weapon that could have been a piece of pipe or a machete.“You knew Cassius was dead by then?” Stanwix asked.“Yeah,” replied Brearley.
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He agreed that he knew he was being interviewed as a suspect over the death, and that “pointing a finger” at the man would implicate him in the murder of a child.Stanwix: “You said that to blame (the man) for Cassius’s death … And you knew (the man) had nothing to do with the incident and was innocent?”Brearley: “Yeah.”Stanwix: “So you tried to frame an innocent man for the murder of a child?”Brearley: “Yeah.”Stanwix: “Isn’t it the case that you will tell any lie imaginable if it gives you a prospect of getting away with what you did?”Brearley: “No.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBrearley said he did it to protect himself, Palmer and Gilmore.He agreed he had previously said Palmer threatened to kill him if he was implicated in the alleged incident.Stanwix also accused Brearley of choosing the man because he was of a similar height and build, and had been in the area on the day Cassius was allegedly attacked.Brearley agreed he looked similar but denied that it was why he named the man or that he would “point the finger anywhere” if it took the blame off him.During the at-times terse cross-examination on his fifth day in the witness box, Brearley also agreed he, Palmer and Forth gathered weapons before Cassius was injured and that they went looking for a group of youths he said had threatened to “run through” the home he shared with Gilmore.He also agreed that he and Palmer re-enacted the attack on Cassius a day after the alleged incident, which was recorded on CCTV.But he has consistently said he only punched Cassius after the teen slashed him with a knife.Prosecutors allege Brearley chased Cassius down and deliberately struck him in the head with a metal shopping trolley pole while he was “hunting for kids” because somebody had smashed his car windows.The trial continues.
10 bodies found in Mexico amid cartel violence
10 bodies found in Acapulco, Mexico, amid cartel violence
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The bodies of 11 murdered victims have been found in the troubled southern Mexican state of Guerrero, local prosecutors and media said Wednesday.Prosecutors said the bodies were discovered Tuesday night in the municipality of Tecoanapa, while local media reported the killings took place during clashes between rival organized crime gangs.Guerrero, located on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, is one of six out of 32 states that account for almost half of Mexico’s homicides, much of them linked to drug trafficking. Guerrero is among the regions in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence. Disputes between cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023.In November, police said they found 11 bodies, including two of minors, dumped by a highway in in Guerrero. The month before that, the mayor of the state capital Chilpancingo was beheaded just days after taking office. After the murder, four other mayors asked federal authorities for protection and a former prosecutor and local police official was arrested in connection with the death.Violence in Guerrero reached such unprecedented levels that last year, Roman Catholic bishops announced they had helped arrange a truce in another part of the state between two warring drug cartels.
Guerrero is also home to popular beach resorts like Acapulco and Zihuatanejo. Last May, 10 bodies were found scattered around Acapulco, which has been engulfed by violence linked to cartels.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A woman has given birth to another person’s baby after their fertility care provider mixed up their embryos.Monash IVF, which operates across Australia, has apologised after a patient at one of its Brisbane clinics had an embryo incorrectly transferred to her, meaning she gave birth to a child of another woman.The error was identified in February after the birth parents requested their remaining embryos to be transferred to another IVF provider.“Instead of finding the expected number of embryos, an additional embryo remained in storage for the birth parents,” the company said in a statement.Monash IVF said an investigation confirmed an embryo from a different patient had been incorrectly thawed and transferred to the birth parents.It was blamed on human error.The birth parents were notified of the mistake within a week of the incident being discovered.Monash IVF chief executive, Michael Knaap, apologised for the bungle and said the company would continue to support the patients.“All of us at Monash IVF are devastated and we apologise to everyone involved,” he said.“We have undertaken additional audits and we’re confident that this is an isolated incident.”The IVF provider asked Victorian senior counsel Fiona McLeod to investigate the incident and committed to implementing any recommendations in full.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe incident was reported to the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee, the Queensland assisted reproductive technology regulator.Monash IVF reached a $56m settlement with more than 700 former patients in August after it allegedly destroyed embryos during faulty genetic screening.The class action claimed about 35% of embryos found to be abnormal through the fertility provider’s flawed genetic testing were normal.Monash IVF Group confirmed it had reached the settlement through mediation but noted it had made no admission of liability.
France is to tighten its ban on the use of mobile phones in middle schools, making pupils at the ages of 11 to 15 shut away their devices in a locker or pouch at the start of the day and access them again only as they are leaving.The education minister told the senate she wanted children to be fully separated from their phones throughout the school day in all French middle schools from September.Élisabeth Borne said: “At a time when the use of screens is being widely questioned because of its many harmful effects, this measure is essential for our children’s wellbeing and success at school.”In 2018, France banned children from using mobile phones in all middle schools – known as collèges. Phones must remain switched off in schoolbags and cannot be used anywhere in the school grounds, including at break-time.Schools have reported a positive effect, with more social interaction, more physical exercise, less bullying and better concentration. But some did report a few children would sneak into the toilets to watch videos on phones at break.Now the government says it is necessary to go further, fully separating children from their devices for the entire school day.This enforced “digital pause” – as the French government calls it – has been tested in a pilot scheme in about 100 middle schools for the past six months, with children giving up their phones on arrival – placing them a locker or box, or in a special locked pouch that can only be unlocked by an electronic system at the school gates as they go home.Devices are banned in primary schools.Borne told the senate: “All the feedback from the trial is positive, namely on improving the atmosphere in schools, and there has been massive support from parents and teachers.”After some unions questioned the cost and logistics of organising the scheme, Borne said it would be up to headteachers to choose a format – for example lockers or pouches – adding that it would cost no more than a few thousand euros.Borne, who quoted a study last month by the French National Book Council, said: “A young person now spends on average five hours a day in front of a screen, but they only spend three hours a week with a book … Not only is reading going down, but for those who do read, half of them are doing something else on their phone at the same time. All that is damaging to students’ success.”A report by scientists and experts commissioned by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, last year concluded that children should not be allowed to use smartphones until they were 13 and should be banned from accessing conventional social media such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat until they were 18.No child should have a phone before age 11, the report said, and they should only have a handset without access to the internet before 13.Macron has said he favoured taking steps to limit children’s exposure to screens.The moves come as the leader of England’s largest teaching union calls for a statutory ban on phones in schools. A survey of more than 15,000 schools found that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools in England had some form of ban.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally on sale, and it’s not a minor token discount either. The Steam Store has knocked 20% off the full price, bringing it down from $59.99 / £49.99 to $47.99 / £39.99 until April 21st. If you’ve been waiting for any excuse to dive into Larian’s massive, sprawling RPG, this is it.
BG3 is one of the most celebrated releases in years, and for once, all the hype was entirely justified. This is a game that rewards every little choice and punishes carelessness in ways that somehow still feel fair. It’s dense, reactive, beautifully written, and genuinely funny in the ways that matter.
For me, this discount finally tips the scales. BG3 has rarely gone on sale, and when it has, it’s been brief. Now you’ve got a real window to get in without paying full price, and you don’t have to wait for some future GOTY edition. It’s all here now. You’re getting over 100 hours of story-rich gameplay, meaningful co-op, deeply customizable characters, and tactical combat that doesn’t hold your hand. It’s the closest thing we’ve had to a modern-day tabletop experience without needing to wrangle a group of flaky friends and four hours of free time.
But maybe you’re the kind of player who likes to start at the beginning. In that case, the Fanatical sale has you covered. Both Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition are sitting at $17.88 each, down from their usual $19.99 price tag. It’s not the biggest discount in the world, but they’ve been polished up for modern systems and still hold up shockingly well for games that first landed decades ago. The UI updates, quality-of-life improvements, and integrated expansions make them more playable than ever.
If you’re going all in, there are some solid DLC discounts too. Siege of Dragonspear, the bridge between BG1 and BG2, is currently 27% off at $14.69. The original soundtracks for all three Enhanced Editions are also discounted, with the Dragonspear OST seeing the biggest drop to $7.34. There’s even the tiny but well-regarded Faces of Good and Evil portrait pack, just $1.79 right now. None of this is essential, but if you’re building a collection or just enjoy having the extras, it’s a nice opportunity to round things out without spending much.
The short version? Now is a great time to catch up on the full Baldur’s Gate saga. You can grab the classics for a steal on Fanatical, then jump into Baldur’s Gate III with 20% off on Steam while it’s still live. It’s the perfect storm of nostalgia and modern brilliance, all at prices that don’t feel like a trap.
The years pass and the animals perish and the oceans rise and the wealth gap widens and I repeatedly think to myself through a fug of nitrogen oxide, Steam discounts and microplastic sediment, “man, those Oddworld games were excellent, weren’t they”. If you’ve yet to have the pleasure, you can scoop up the entirety of the squalid anti-capitalist satire universe on Fanatical right now for a pound or dollar. It’s been a while since I read Theses on Feuerbach, but I’m pretty sure that counts as praxis?
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ lingering decision about whether to run for governor has other Democrats in the 2026 race steamed, saying the state needs leaders to step up now to protect Californians and combat the destructive policies of President Trump. The criticism of Harris’ delayed decision, which is expected to come this summer, varies from sharp and direct to oblique and circuitous.“The challenges facing California are too great for us to wait for a candidate who wants to come in late in the game,” said former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who announced his gubernatorial campaign in July. “California is not a steppingstone to higher office.”He pointed to the unsuccessful, abbreviated campaign Harris had in the 2024 presidential contest because of then-President Biden’s decision to bow out of the race in the summer, months before the election. “This will not be a coronation,” he said in an interview this month. “You can’t run at the end of the rainbow. We saw a 100-day campaign. Look what that brought us.”Former Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine and former U.S. Health and Human Services chief Xavier Becerra, two other top Democrats running for governor, also called out politicians for sitting on the sidelines.“No one should be waiting to lead. I think we need to make a case right now,” Porter said in a March interview, shortly after she was asked what Harris’ potential entry into the race would mean for her candidacy. “There’s an incredible urgency on the ground that I think stretches across California and across the political spectrum.”Becerra made a similar point as he announced his candidacy in early April.“Watching what’s unfolding before our eyes made it clear this is not a time to sit on the sidelines,” Becerra said in an interview.Polls show that Harris would become the instant front-runner if she decides to jump into the governor’s race. Not only is Harris known nationwide as a former vice president and presidential nominee, but she has a well-established track record of winning statewide races in California. Harris is expected to make a decision by the end of the summer, according to a source close to the former vice president.The source pointed to Harris’ experience as San Francisco’s district attorney, the state’s attorney general and U.S. senator before being elected vice president in 2020. “No one can question her commitment to public service and the people of California and our nation,” this person said. “The vice president’s decisions will always center on how best to serve the people.”Harris’ success in the state, her name recognition and her national donor base are among the reasons many expected her to easily clear the field if she enters the governor’s race.“Her looming as a possible gubernatorial candidate has a very definite chilling effect on everyone else’s fundraising ability,” said veteran Democratic strategist Darry Sragow. “Virtually all donors use any excuse they can to not write a check. … That would be compounded by the fact of the looming uncertain presence here is a very significant political player, presumably the most senior political player in the Democratic field.”But other California Democratic strategists note that donors’ patience could eventually wear thin at a time when the party is brimming with angst about the large checks they wrote in the 2024 election as well as the policy decisions coming out of the Trump White House.Tracy Austin, a prominent Los Angeles-based Democratic fundraiser who has ties with several candidates in the race, says there is already mounting frustration in the donor community — not only because of how long Harris is taking to make a decision, but also because of the amount of money they spent on her 2024 presidential campaign as well as broader concerns about the party’s direction.Fundraising reports aren’t due until July, but candidates are required to report donations over $5,000. Villaraigosa leads the pack, with about $3.2 million from donors such as director Rob Reiner, producer and television personality Ryan Seacrest and former Walt Disney chief Michael Eisner. Other candidates have entered the race much more recently, and their footprint among donors who write large checks is far smaller. A little more than $215,000 for Republican County Sheriff Chad Bianco; $133,400 for Porter. The candidates’ strength among small-dollar donors won’t be visible for months.Republicans are relishing the prospect of Harris entering the race. Bianco blasted out a fundraising appeal with a message line invoking Harris’ name.“Now, the threat that the Democrat leadership poses to our communities is graver than ever before,” he wrote earlier this month. “That’s because Kamala Harris is positioning herself to run for Governor of California. Today, I’m asking you to help me defeat radical Kamala Harris in the race for California Governor.”Harris’ potential candidacy was frequently raised during the state GOP convention late last month in Sacramento.“I personally think it’s beneath her, but I welcome it,” outgoing party chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson told reporters. “I would love to see her on the ballot.”Since losing the 2024 election to Trump, Harris has made few public appearances — visiting firefighters and volunteers at the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires, watching Broadway plays in New York City and accepting an award from the NAACP.Harris has been circumspect during her few public appearances since losing the 2024 presidential election. On April 3, she made some of her most pointed remarks since Trump took office during brief remarks before a gathering of Black female business leaders, politicians and other prominent people.Harris decried the rollback of fundamental rights under the Trump administration and vowed to remain active in the battle to safeguard constitutional protections.“I’ll see you out there,” she vowed. “I’m not going anywhere.” More to Read
The Reserve Bank of Australia governor says it is “too early” to judge how Donald Trump’s trade war will affect interest rates over coming months, while hosing down forecasts the bank will issue a double rate cut in May.Michele Bullock’s measured tone on Thursday evening in Melbourne gave no indication of a central bank that sees the need, at least at this stage, to accelerate the pace of rate cuts in 2025, as many economists now expect.“We are mindful of not adding to the uncertainty, and to that end, it’s too early for us to determine what the path will be for interest rates,” she said.Addressing the Chief Executive Women’s annual dinner, the RBA governor briefly mentioned “developments over the past week”.
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“Inevitably, there will be a period of uncertainty and adjustment as countries respond to the ongoing tariff announcements by the United States administration,” she said.“It will take some time to see how all of this plays out and the added unpredictability means we need to be patient as we work through how all of this could affect demand and supply globally.”Bullock’s speech came after stocks on Wall Street staged an historic rally on Wednesday night, triggered by Trump’s abrupt announcement that there would be a 90-day pause on the substantially higher “reciprocal” tariffs on scores of countries – with the major exception of China.Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 share market index jumped 4.5%, while European stocks soared in early trade on Thursday evening. The Australian dollar jumped nearly US2c to US61.5c.The rapid about-face in Washington also forced Deutsche Bank to reverse its prediction of a double RBA rate cut on 20 May, just 48 hours after making the call.Bullock, however, indicated that an uncertain and rocky path lay ahead, saying “financial market and economic volatility can be expected as this process unfolds”.“A key focus for us is how all this uncertainty is affecting decisions made by households and businesses in Australia.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBullock, who in her speech traced her early journey through the male-dominated ranks of the central bank to eventually claim the top job, said Trump’s trade war was not having the disruptive effect on financial markets as previous crises, such as the GFC.“And second, the Australian financial system is strong and well placed to absorb shocks from abroad,” she said.“We are carefully considering several factors including the response of our trading partners, additional counter-responses from the US, the response of our exchange rate, and adjustments in other financial markets.“All of this – together with our usual detailed analytical work and scenarios – is helping us build a fuller picture of the possible impacts as we prepare for the next monetary policy board meeting on 19-20 May. There are a lot of moving parts.”