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Sri Lanka should be vigilant about the Adani power project in the island, experts said, after Federal prosecutors in New York indicted Group Chairman Gautam Adani and seven others on multiple counts of fraud. Sri Lanka has often seen cases of significant corruption in the country being exposed in other jurisdictions, according to Nishan De Mel, Executive Director of Verité Research, a Colombo-based think tank. He referred to the allegations of bribery in Sri Lankan Airlines’ purchase of aircraft from Airbus, which surfaced in a United Kingdom-based investigation a few years ago, and to the Pandora Papers that threw up names of local politicians and businessmen. “It is very important for Sri Lanka to redouble its efforts against corruption, to ensure that we are protected from corrupt deals,” he told The Hindu. After news on the alleged bribery scheme of the Adani Group surfaced on Thursday, many citizens and activists in Sri Lanka took to social media and called for greater scrutiny of the Group’s power project on the island. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won the Presidency this September, and his National People’s Power [NPP] alliance, which secured a historic, two-thirds majority in the November 14 general election, have pledged to root out corruption. Days before his election win, Mr. Dissanayake vowed to cancel the “corrupt Adani deal” if his government came to power. Subsequently, Foreign Minister and Cabinet spokesperson of the interim administration said the government would “review” the project after the Parliamentary polls. The International Monetary Fund, too, in its ongoing programme with Sri Lanka, has underscored the need to arrest “corruption vulnerabilities”. Controversial deal Adani Green Energy is investing $442 million in a wind power project in Mannar and Pooneryn in northern Sri Lanka. From the time the former Gotabaya Rajapaksa government roped in the firm in 2022, the project has remained controversial. The main political opposition accused the conglomerate of “backdoor entry”, in the absence of an open call for tenders. The same year, a top Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) official told a Parliamentary panel that the project was given to the Adani Group after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “pressured” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The official subsequently resigned, after withdrawing his original statement. Regardless, the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration went ahead with the project, amid questions from corruption watchdogs. When the Adani Group came under the global spotlight in early 2023, and its stocks plummeted in the wake of U.S. short seller Hindenburg accusing it of pulling the “largest con in corporate history”, then Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Ali Sabry said the Wickremesinghe administration was “very, very confident” of the future of the project, which it saw as a “government-to-government” deal with India. Earlier this year, environmentalists and Mannar residents moved Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, challenging the project on grounds of potential environmental impact and “lack of transparency”. The case was taken up by a five-member Bench and the next hearing is scheduled on March 18 and 19, 2025, according to sources familiar with the proceedings. The renewable energy project is one of two projects that the Adani Group is executing in Sri Lanka. Its other major investment is the Adani Ports-led container terminal project in Colombo. In November 2023, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced a $553-million investment in the project, a $700-million joint venture among Adani Ports, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), and Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings. --Agencies

Conor McGregor’s longtime fiancée, Dee Devlin, issued her first public statements Wednesday since the former two-division UFC champion was in a Dublin hotel in 2018. In a series of messages posted on her Instagram stories, Devlin, the mother of McGregor’s four children, defended McGregor and aggressively attacked the character and credibility of Hand. “Imagine a WOMAN, with her own boyfriend and child, texting provocative pictures of herself to another woman’s man with a family and child on the way. This woman claims to know me, yet still went ahead and sent messages and pictures of herself over and over to my man? Really? Whilst on a 3 day bender, texting excuses to her own child at home where mammy is on a Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, Sunday night into Monday morning. All the while out of her face in a hotel room, dancing around a hotel carpark. What sort of WOMAN are you!!! “My sons will be warned women like you exist in the world. “CCTV DOES NOT LIE. I look forward [to] the day the world will see the footage on that night and the carry on of you. Not a bother on you having the time of your life. This is the real evidence, video footage no one knew was being taken in the moment which you miraculously don’t remember? To me it looks like you’re the one sexually assaulting in the lift. To me it looks like everybody is trying to get away from you. “Conor and I dealt with these issues privately many years ago, as should be done in a relationship and we have come out stronger than ever. We have four beautiful children now whose smiling faces and happy hearts are a testament to who he is and who we are! "They without sin cast the first stone" Devlin, McGregor's partner since prior to the fighter's rise as a UFC star, additionally posted a similar statement on Instagram alongside a photo of the couple and two of their children. My man and I have created a beautiful life together. I love him I trust him and I BELIEVE HIM! Our four beautiful children whose smiling faces and happy hearts are testimony to the man he is and who we are! No one is entitled to comment on our relationship- we trust one another and love one another Nothing or nobody will change that Our family stands strong! As a result of the sexual assault verdict in Hand's civil case, McGregor, 36, has been ordered to pay Hand a total of €248,603.60 ($261,246.63) in damages. Multiple retail giants in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Tuesday , and Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey — the alcohol brand founded by the fighter — announced that it no longer intends to use McGregor's name or likeness in its marketing. remains offline as of this writing. On Monday, , removing content featuring the former UFC champion from its video game "Hitman: World of Assassination." A solidarity march for Hand took place Monday in Dublin's city center. Following a slew of furious and largely vulgar posts on social media attacking the verdict, McGregor issued a statement Tuesday confirming that he intends to appeal the decision. People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me. As much as I... — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) McGregor has not competed in the UFC since a July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier, during which he suffered a broken leg. UFC has yet to comment on McGregor being found liable for sexual assault.Shares of POET Technologies Inc. ( CVE:PTK – Get Free Report ) were up 18.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$8.43 and last traded at C$8.24. Approximately 322,979 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 128% from the average daily volume of 141,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$6.98. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Northland Capmk raised shares of POET Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on POET Technologies POET Technologies Price Performance Insider Activity at POET Technologies In other news, Senior Officer Vivek Rajgarhia sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$7.24, for a total value of C$36,219.00. Also, Director James Lee sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$6.95, for a total value of C$173,712.50. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. POET Technologies Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) POET Technologies Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells discrete and integrated opto-electronic solutions in Canada, the United States, Singapore, and China. The company offers integration solutions based on the POET Optical Interposer, a novel platform that allows the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single multi-chip module using advanced wafer-level semiconductor manufacturing techniques. See Also Receive News & Ratings for POET Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for POET Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

CEDAR FALLS — Two teams with dream seasons clashed in the Class 4A State Football Championship game on Thursday night at the UNI-Dome. For Pella, it was a chance to grab a fourth and final state title for their legendary head coach Jay McKinstrey who would be coaching in his final game before retiring after the final whistle. For North Polk, they came in as the last standing undefeated team in 4A and were seeking their first-ever state title. The latter would leave the night celebrating as the Comets would end up coming away with a 24-14 victory. There was an energy in the building as play got underway with both defenses came up with stops on their opening possessions before Pella’s Tyson Barnes would pin North Polk with a great punt going out of bounds at the two yard line. The Comets then began to establish what would be a dominate night at the line of scrimmage. North Polk would go 15-plays and 98 yards over eight minutes with quarterback Nathan Feldmann scrambling right before lowering his shoulder and powering in for a 13-yard TD to start the scoring at 7-0 early in the second quarter. Pella would look for an answer and would get into North Polk territory before stalling out and turning it over on downs. North Polk got to work again on offense with their dynamic backfield duo of Feldmann and running back BJ Tate running behind their big offensive line. The Comets would milk the clock and would be faced with a fourth and one at the Pella five yard line late in the half. The Dutch defense has come big in those moments several times this year but were unable to get the stop as Feldmann called his own number and powered into the endzone for a five-yard TD to push the lead to 14-0 at the half. The good news for Pella was they got the ball to start the second half and would have a chance to make it a one-score game again. The big-play Dutch would strike in just three plays as QB Colin Kerndt found Harrison Mullens on a deep post over the middle with Mullens out-running everyone on his way to an 89-yard touchdown to cut the deficit in half at 14-7. North Polk took the ensuing kickoff back to midfield to set up good starting position for them. They would get to work on the ground again and would punch it in just five plays later with Feldmann tallying his third rushing TD of the night. This one was from five yards out and made it 21-7 late in the third quarter. The Dutch needed to answer back again but would stall out in North Polk territory again, turning it over on downs. The Comets took over with a chance to put a dagger in Pella’s title hopes but the relentless Dutch defense would show up with Bailey Shetterly jumping the passing lane on a screen throw by Feldmann with Shetterly racing the other way for a 39-yard pick-six to all of sudden make it one score game again at 21-14 heading to the fourth quarter. “Our guys have found ways to win this year and I appreciate them so much,” Pella head coach Jay McKinstrey said. “They are a group of kids that are an enjoyable group to be around, that are never going to quit and they are going to play to the very end, win or lose.” Just like they did on their first scoring drive, the North Polk offense would embark on a long, time consuming drive that would see them get to the Pella two yard line. But instead of going for it on fourth down, North Polk would attempt a short 21-yard field goal and put it through to cap off their 14-play, 81 yard drive over eight minutes to make it a two score game again 24-14 with just under nine minutes to go. The pressure turned back to Pella as they needed to score quick and get the ball back again. Kerndt and Emmanuel Diers got a couple of good runs to get near midfield but would face another fourth down. Kerndt would escape a sack before unleashing a deep ball up for grabs into traffic where North Polk’s Brady Cathcart would haul it down for an interception. Time was not on the side of the Dutch as they needed to get a stop quick but the North Polk running game continued to cash in first down after first down before running out the clock and claiming their first state title in program history with a 24-14 win. While the celebrations happened on one side of the field, tears and frustration settled in for the green and white as they would fall one game shy of a fourth state title under McKinstrey. The recent trends for North Polk continued as they rushed for over 300 yards for the fourth time in their last five games and held their opponent to 14 points or less and 250 total yards or less for a sixth straight game. Feldmann finished with 149 total yards and three TDs while Tate had 31 carries for 152 yards. For Pella, Kerndt was 10-of-17 passing for 132 yards with one TD and one interception. Outside of the TD pass to Mullens, Pella’s offense was held to 110 yards on 36 plays. Thursday marked the final game for McKinstrey in his Hall of Fame career leading the Dutch. The long-time head coach was grateful to be able to finish his career with a chance to play for a fourth state title in his sixth finals appearance. "How many times do you actually get to win the state championship or even play in this game,” McKinstrey said. “Very few programs get to be here every year. I'm grateful I got to be in here at least once and we got to be here six times playing for the title. I'm so grateful for that and and hopefully that these young men and all the kids we've coached in the past can look back fondly, remember the relationships, remember some things that they've learned from our football program. We’re a pseudo family during the year and that's what I'll miss when it's all said and done here. I'll just miss the players, the coaches and the opportunity to belong to something.” Pella finishes the season with an 11-2 record. PHS 0 0 14 0 - 14 NP 0 14 7 3 - 24 First Quarter Second Quarter NP — Feldmann 13-yard rushing TD. PAT is good (0-7, 10:42) NP — Feldmann 5-yard rushing TD. PAT is good (0-14, 1:13) Third Quarter PHS — Kerndt pass to Mullens for 89-yard TD. PAT is good (7-14, 11:10) NP — Feldmann 5-yard rushing TD. PAT is good (7-21, 8:50) PHS — Shetterly 39-yard interception return for a TD. PAT is good (14-21, 4:53) Fourth Quarter NP — Triplett 21-yard FG (14-24, 8:44) Passing — Kerndt 10/17 132 yards 1 TD 1 INT, Barnes 0/1 Rushing — Diers 11-35, Kerndt 8-32 Receiving — Mullens 1-89 1 TD, Barnes 2-16, Shetterly 2-16, Diers 4-8, Cowman 1-3 Top three tackles — Rhamy 8, Warner 7.5, VanMaanen 6.5 Interceptions — Shetterly 1Moving beyond military solutions10-man Barcelona concedes two late goals in draw at Celta Vigo

Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her. “I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.” In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It’s a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. “It’s all about explaining that different people have different responses,” said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person’s response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. “This is a disease that stems from the brain,” said Stanford. “The dysfunction may not be the same” from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. “It can be devastating,” said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. “With such high expectations, there’s so much room for disappointment.” That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. “It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “You want it to work like it does for everybody else.” The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn’t happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they’re out of options. “I tell them: It’s not game over,” Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn’t respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. “I’m hoping it’s slow and steady,” she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. “Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,” she said. “If what we’re prescribing doesn’t work, we always have a backup plan.” ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Edmund Simpson sold railway and military books from his shop in the shadow of Manchester Cathedral, and 'girlie mags' from the top shelves. It was a magnet for book lovers but Edmund soon realised there was way more profit in soft porn. He grew used to having to deal with what his business partner described as the odd 'weird' customer, resisting his usual urge to be friendly to everyone to throw them out. One of them bludgeoned him to death for his wallet. More than four decades later, mystery still surrounds his death and his murderer - if he's alive - remains at large, thanks in part to a wall of silence that frustrated detectives at the time. They suspected the shop's 'girlie mag' customers knew far more about his death than they were prepared to say. READ MORE: 25 unsolved Greater Manchester murders that have baffled detectives for decades, and where they took place Edmund, from Prestwich , was 58 when he suffered a fatal beating in Burns' bookshop at the corner of Victoria Street and Fennel Street. He was attacked between 1.40pm and 2.40pm on Monday, August 9, 1982. He had been battered around the head with a blunt weapon. He clung onto life at first on a life support machine at Salford Royal Hospital. His wife Norma and grown-up daughter were comforted at their home by police, the Manchester Evening News reported at the time. His partner in the book shop business, Eric Burns, became worried when he had not been able to raise Edmund on the phone. Mr Burns went to the store and found the front door locked. He opened it with a Yale key and found his friend and business partner slumped on the floor with serious head wounds in a pool of blood. It wasn't the first time he had been attacked. Two years before his murder, he was robbed in the shop by a man armed with a razor. As Edmund lay in hospital, Chief Supt Jack Ridgway said: "His condition is giving me cause for concern. The shop stocks girlie magazines but the motive appears to be robbery. A wallet containing £65 and a driving licence is missing. The man has head injuries which have been inflicted by a blunt instrument. There are no obvious signs of a struggle and nothing appears to be missing. "I am particularly anxious to trace any person who may have been in the vicinity of the shop between 1.30pm and 3.30pm yesterday afternoon. I can assure them they will be completely anonymous if they have anything to tell us. "Traffic is often held immediately outside the shop at the busy junction and drivers too may have seen someone coming out of the entrance or standing nearby." He added that the 'slightest snippet of information would be helpful'. "This was a particularly brutal attack. Mr Simpson was struck several times about the head", he said. "The man who did it must be caught. Mr Simpson has been married for 35 years and (had) run the shop for 30. He bought and sold books until he realised that there was more profit in the girlie magazine trade," Chief Supt Ridgway said. Edmund died from his injuries two days later, leaving his wife and daughter. The investigation into the shocking death of a man described as 'one of nature's gentlemen' quickly hit a brick wall. One detective described the response from the public following appeals for witnesses and information as 'appalling'. It seemed nobody cared that Edmund had been brutally murdered going about his business in the shop on a Monday lunchtime. He had worked there 36 years after being demobbed from the RAF. Today, the investigation remains open but hopes that his killer will be brought to justice fades with every passing year. The Cold Case Unit of Greater Manchester Police has long had the case on its books and its detectives are hoping advanced forensic techniques and a fresh appeal could still lead them to his killer. Mr Simpson was found lying unconscious in the shop by his friend Eric Burns, who co-founded the business. Mr Burns told the M.E.N. at the time: “He was a Good Samaritan - one of nature’s gentlemen. He never deserved an end like this. He would do anything for anybody. If you were in trouble he would be there in a minute. “If you had seen his wounds you would never forget. It will haunt me forever.” Mr Simpson died for the sake of £65 - the equivalent of £289 today - and a driving licence in a folding wallet which was stolen from him. In a bid to catch his killer the original investigating team put a picture of Mr Simpson in the window of his shop. Just before Mr Simpson’s attacker entered his shop he rang up two £5 sales on the till. Edmund Simpson was murdered in 1982 Edmund Simpson’s fear of ending up on the employment scrapheap had convinced him to keep the business alive, a decision that would end ultimately in his death. The owner of the bookshop had planned to close the business years earlier. The lease on the premises was due to end and the building was under a council demolition order. But Eric Burns, 70 at the time of the murder, who founded the shop with his brother, Dennis, 67, resisted shutting it, partly because of Mr Simpson’s anxiety about work. Mr Burns said after the murder: “Mr Simpson wanted to continue, thinking at his age, he would be consigned to the scrapheap. I had to consider him after all his many years of loyal service. “He was a friendly man. But we did get some weird customers sometimes and we would have to eject them. Some were drunk.” Mr Burns, a life-long friend offered a reward of £500 - the equivalent of £2,200 today - in a bid to catch the killer. A man suspected of being the killer was seen fleeing the scene in a distressed state. One witness described him as 5ft 9in to 6ft with dark hair and wearing jeans. He was believed to be in his late 20s to early 30s. Det Chief Supt Jack Ridgway, who led the inquiry, at one point became exasperated at the ‘appalling response’ by the Manchester public. He also criticised 'girlie magazine' readers for not helping to solve the murder. Mr Simpson was 5ft 8in and weighed just ten stone. But it was believed he would have put up a fight. Speaking the day after Mr Simpson died, Mr Burns described him as a ‘pretty tough’ kind of man who knew how to deal with awkward customers. In an appeal in 2015, Detective Sergeant Julie Adams from GMP’s Cold Case Unit told the M.E.N.: “Thirty-three years have now passed since Edmund Simpson was brutally killed in the bookshop where he worked. "This case will not be closed and detectives from the Cold Case Review Unit remain positive and will explore all lines of enquiry in the hunt for Edmund’s killer. “We are considering any new forensic opportunities and other information we have received to ensure that we can pursue justice for Edmund’s family." Anyone with any information on what happened or who may know the identity of the killer is asked to contact the police as soon as possible on 0161 856 5961 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.