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CNN — Florida lawmakers on Friday approved an expansion of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial program to relocate migrants, giving the Republican leader authority to transport individuals from anywhere in the country. The measure, now headed to DeSantis’ desk after passing the GOP-led House on a 77-34 vote, would allow his administration to pick up where the governor left off last year when he sent two planes of migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The attention-grabbing act thrust DeSantis into the middle of the national debate on immigration, earning the potential 2024 hopeful praise from conservatives and widespread condemnation from migrant advocacy groups and the White House.

Moldova's government has collapsed and its pro-EU prime minister has stepped down after 18 months of political and economic turbulence. Europe's poorest country was struggling with "multiple crises", outgoing PM Natalia Gavrilita said on Friday. With the war raging in neighbouring Ukraine, Moldova has been facing inflation, high energy prices, a refugee influx and Russian aggression. The news came just hours after Russian missiles flew over Moldovan airspace. Announcing her resignation on Friday, Ms Gavrilita said that when her government was elected in 2021, no one expected it would have to manage "so many crises caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine". Moldova is precariously close to the war - it shares a 1,222km (759 mile) border with Ukraine, and has suffered greatly from the fallout of Russia's invasion.

The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test from California in a show of nuclear readiness. The test launched at 11:01 p.m. PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the base announced on Friday. It was a "routine" activity "intended to demonstrate that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and effective," according to the announcement.

Two people, including a six-year-old boy, have been killed in a car ramming attack at a bus stop in occupied East Jerusalem, officials say. The attack happened at Ramot Junction, police said. Unconfirmed reports say the driver was a Palestinian. Police said he was "neutralised on the spot". Five people were hurt, medics said. It comes amid a particularly bloody period between Israelis and Palestinians, with a mounting toll from Palestinian attacks and Israeli raids. Pictures from the scene of the incident on the northern outskirts of the city show a blue Mazda car which had crashed into a pole and come to a standstill on the pavement under a bus shelter. A volunteer medic with an ambulance service told Israel's Army Radio: "Everyone was lying out, thrown about, in very bad condition." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had "decided to take immediate action to seal and demolish the home of the terrorist", his office said.

A UK appeal to help the earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria has raised nearly £33m on its first day. The appeal by a collection of aid agencies was launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee and broadcast on television on Thursday evening. DEC said the British public had donated £27.9m so far. The government had pledged to match the first £5m of donations, taking the total to £32.9m. The King and Queen Consort were also thanked for a "generous donation". The Prince and Princess of Wales are also supporting the appeal. William and Kate tweeted they were "horrified to see the harrowing images" in the aftermath of the earthquakes and their thoughts were with the affected communities.

Yahoo plans to lay off more than 20% of its total 8,600 workforce as part of a major restructuring. The veteran tech company is reorganising its advertising unit, which will lose more than half of the department by the end of the year. Nearly 1,000 employees will be affected by the cuts by the end of the week. Yahoo is the latest tech firm to announce job losses as firms struggle with a downturn in demand, high inflation and rising interest rates. "These decisions are never easy, but we believe these changes will simplify and strengthen our advertising business for the long run, while enabling Yahoo to deliver better value to our customers and partners," a spokesperson told the BBC. Yahoo, which has been owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management since a $5bn buyout in 2021, added that the move would enable the company to narrow its focus and investment on its flagship ad business called DSP, or demand-side platform.

MOVED to Banking !

Off topic and inflammatory post removed.

Democrat MSNBC regular James Carville called Republicans at the State of the Union address "White trash," specifically calling out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. The "Outnumbered" panel discussed the "appalling" rhetoric from the veteran political strategist Thursday, with Democrat panelist Marie Harf objecting to the remark. "I would not have used this language. I think there's plenty to criticize Marjorie Taylor Greene over, with the behavior of her and some of her colleagues during the State of the Union. I think it was embarrassing. I wouldn't have used that term," said Harf.

The Sun revealed the price increases after visiting the Wetherspoons at the Oxted Inn branch in Surrey. However, just note that pub prices will likely vary across the country. Among the price differences were favourite tipples up by seven per cent, with a pint of Carlsberg up from £2.39 to £2.57, Stella from £3.35 to £3.60 and Leffe from £3.85 to £4.14.

A state of disaster has been declared in South Africa as the country grapples with a severe electricity crisis. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the emergency measure, which will take immediate effect, during a state of the nation address on Thursday. "Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. The energy crisis is an existential threat to our economy and social fabric," said Mr Ramaphosa.

The UK has paid £2.3bn to the EU after losing a long-running trade dispute, with the amount including £1bn in interest. The government announced the figure in a Written Ministerial Statement before recess next week. The payments relate to a disagreement over the importation of Chinese textiles and footwear between 2011 and 2017 - when the UK was still part of the European Union.

The top humanitarian aid agency in the US government has pledged $85m (£70m) in urgent life-saving relief for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) funding will go towards shelter, cold weather supplies, food, water and healthcare. The moves comes as countries around the world send search crews and aid to the region, where over 20,000 have died. Rescuers say supplies are needed now or more people will die from the cold. In a statement on Thursday, USAID said it is also providing "hygiene and sanitation assistance to keep people safe and healthy".

Burt Bacharach, who has died at the age of 94, will be remembered for composing some of the best-loved pop songs of all time, over a 30-year period. Along with lyricist Hal David, he created hits for Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and Dionne Warwick among many others, as well as numerous movie themes. Here is a selection of 12 of his classic works.

It will soon be illegal to smoke cannabis on the street in Amsterdam's red light district under new regulations unveiled by the city. The laws will come into effect from mid-May and aim to improve liveability for residents who have long complained of disruption caused by tourists. Sex workers will also have to close their venues at 3am. Local media reported that almost all councillors supported taking action to reduce nuisance to residents. The city council also announced on Thursday that restaurants and bars would have to close by 2am on Fridays and Saturdays and no new visitors would be allowed into the old city district after 1am. Currently, the sale of alcohol from shops, liquor stores and cafes in the red light district is illegal from Thursday to Sunday after 4pm. Now, the council will ask vendors to completely remove alcohol from their shopfronts during that time, or hide them from view.

Ukraine's leader has taken his request for fighter jets to France and Germany after meeting UK officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky met the two countries' leaders in Paris on Wednesday evening, where they pledged ongoing support to Ukraine. France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Olaf Scholz restated their belief that Russia must not win the war. Mr Zelensky will make more requests for jets when he meets European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday. He believes the fighter jets and long-range missiles are important in addition to the Leopard 2 tanks Western nations have recently committed to supplying. Speaking at a joint news conference on Wednesday evening with Mr Macron and Mr Scholz, Mr Zelensky said France and Germany had potential to be "game-changers" in the battle against Russia by providing Ukraine with battle tanks, modern fighter planes and long-range missiles.

Australia will remove Chinese-made surveillance cameras from defence sites over national security fears. It comes after an audit found 900 pieces of surveillance equipment built by companies Hikvision and Dahua on government estates. The UK and US made similar moves last year, citing fears the device data may be accessed by the Chinese government. Hikvision says those fears are unfounded. Dahua has not responded to a request for comment. The audit of Australian government sites found the cameras and security gear were located on more than 200 buildings, in almost every department - including the foreign affairs and attorney general's departments. At least one unit was also found in the defence department, but the total number at defence sites is unknown. Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on Thursday said the government would find and remove the cameras from any defence locations to make them "completely secure".

Netflix is introducing limits on password sharing in four more countries: Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. Customers in those countries are being asked to pay an extra fee if they want friends and family who don't live with them to share their subscription. The move follows a crackdown on password sharing in South America. The media giant estimates 100 million people around the world use shared accounts. The hit to revenues from the shared accounts was affecting Netflix's ability to invest in new programming content, the firm said. It has said it is planning to extend the new approach to more countries in coming months. "Over the last year, we've been exploring different approaches to address this issue in Latin America, and we're now ready to roll them out more broadly in the coming months, starting today in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain," it said in a blog post on Wednesday.