BRATISLAVA, May 05 (IPS) – As a string of European states announce withdrawals from a global treaty banning antipersonnel landmines, campaigners are warning countless lives could be put at risk as decades of progress fighting the weapons come under threat.
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 05 (IPS) – Janet Ngombalu is Kenya Country Director, Christian AidReflecting on this year’s IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings, one word lingers in my mind: uncertainty. The shifting global geopolitical landscape loomed large—none more so than the US administration’s initial threat to withdraw from the Bretton Woods institutions.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Single game tickets for 2025 Indianapolis Colts games at Lucas Oil Stadium will go on sale immediately after the NFL schedule release on Wednesday, May 14 at 8 p.m.
Fans who sign up for the Colts Official Priority List will have first access to the best available tickets as soon as they go on sale. Ticket will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Once the schedule is announced and live, all fans — regardless of whether they are on the Priority List — can head to Colts.com/tickets through Ticketmaster.
The Colts’ 2025 home slate includes one preseason game and eight regular season games at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts will also host a game at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.
Fans can catch the full schedule reveal at Colts.com and the Official Colts App, where the team’s slate of opponents, dates, and kickoff teams will be revealed.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here is a look at Monday’s business headlines with Jane King, where she discusses a 14-state tomato recall and Sweetgreen CEO defending the high cost of their salads.
Two brands of tomatoes have been recalled in 14 states due to possible salmonella contamination, the FDA said this week.
Ray & Mascari Inc. recalled four-count vine ripe tomatoes that were sold by Gordon Food Service stores in 11 states, including Indiana.
According to the FDA, Ray & Mascari Inc. was notified by Hanshaw & Caping Farms that they were recalling a lot of tomatoes they had received and repacked into 4-count vine ripe tomatoes due to the possible presence of salmonella in their facility.
Target has limited self-checkout to customers with 10 items or less, but denies claims the move is due to theft.
A representative told Fox News Digital the change has been in the works for over a year, and was spurred on by internal testing that showed it increased customer satisfaction.
But industry experts say theft is a major reason behind the shift.
In 2023, the company reported nearly $500 million in shrink-related losses compared to the previous year, according to Business Insider.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett announced he intends to retire at the end of this year.
A top exec at Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel, will take his place.
The 94-year-old made the announcement at Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting, which draws crowds of executives to Omaha every year.
A new survey shows taxpayers are more likely to spend their refunds on rent, groceries and other necessities, rather than luxuries.
The poll found nearly two in three have either already spent their tax refund money or are planning to soon. And all agree their refunds will be spent on necessary purchases.
Commissioned by TaxSlayer and conducted by Talker Research, the study found 72% who haven’t already spent their refunds are planning to invest it all in necessities.
Sweetgreen’s CEO is defending its $16 salads.
In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, Jonathon Neman says while it seems expensive, customers should think about the long term costs of not eating healthy.
As for whether automation might help make the chain’s salads cheaper, Neman does believe robotic assistance could help contain costs.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Another cool and dreary day today with a few spotty showers. The pattern shifts for the rest of the week and we will begin to see temperatures return back to normal.
TODAY: After a dreary and rainy weekend the pattern continues for today. We will look for mostly cloudy conditions for today with on and off spotty showers. The rain showers will continue throughout much of the day and into the afternoon. High temperatures climb close to 60 degrees for this afternoon. Normal high for today is right around 70.
TONIGHT: Lots of clouds for tonight, a few spotty showers possible. It will be on the cooler side with low temperatures falling near 47.
TOMORROW: A few morning showers may be possible with mainly cloudy skies throughout much of the day on your Tuesday. We will see this upper level low that has plagued us throughout the weekend finally begin to move off to the east by Tuesday afternoon. Highest climb close to normal on Tuesday with readings right around 70.
We will see some sunshine on your Wednesday and slightly warmer temperatures with highs right around 74.
7 DAY EXTENDED FORECAST: A few spotty showers may be possible on Thursday and mostly cloudy skies. Temperatures climb into the lower 70s.
The weekend looks pretty good with partly cloudy skies beginning on Friday highs near 70. Mid and upper 70s Saturday into Sunday.
If you are heading to the Grand Prix on Saturday weather looks fantastic temperatures will be into the 70s with dry conditions. And on Mother’s Day even better readings into the mid and upper 70s under a mostly sunny sky.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Department of Transportation is cracking down on speeding in construction zones.
Starting Monday, drivers could get a ticket if caught speeding in the Clear Path construction zone on the city’s northeast side. That’s the site refiguring parts of I-465 and I-69.
The fines are part of the Safe Zones program, which allows the Indiana Department of Transportation to put a speed camera in four work zones in Indiana.
INDOT says drivers can expect a fine of up to $150 if caught going more than 11 mph over the speed limit in a construction zone. Workers must be present for a driver to get a warning or ticket.
“In 2024, we had 30 people killed in our work zones. 1500 were injured. Now that is a huge number,” Matthew Ubelhor, the Indiana Secretary of Transportation and Infrastructure, told News 8’s Danielle Zulkosky in April. “We have to, as a group and as a state, guard and protect the people that are in these work zones.”
Pre-enforcement started in January, when INDOT started sending warning letters caught speeding in a Safe Zone construction zone. INDOT officials say 90,000 courtesy notices have gone out to drivers since then.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel approved plans on Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, in a move that if implemented would vastly expand Israel’s operations in the Palestinian territory and likely bring fierce international opposition.
Israeli Cabinet ministers approved the plan in an early morning vote, hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.
The new plan, which the officials said was meant to help Israel achieve its war aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza, also would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, what would likely exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50% of Gaza. Before the truce ended, Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food, fuel and water, setting off what is believed to the be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war.
The ban on aid has prompted widespread hunger and shortages have set off looting.
The Israeli officials said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories.” The plan would also seek to prevent the militant Hamas group from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza. It also accuses Hamas of keeping the aid for itself to bolsters its capabilities. The plan also included powerful strikes against Hamas targets, the officials said.
The officials said Israel was in touch with several countries about President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and relocate its population, under what Israel has termed “voluntary emigration” yet which has sparked condemnations from Israel’s allies in Europe and the Arab world.
One of the officials said the plan would be implemented gradually. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing military plans.
For weeks, Israel has been trying to ratchet up pressure on Hamas and prompt it to show more flexibility in ceasefire negotiations. But international mediators trying to bring the sides toward a new deal have struggled to do so. Israel’s measures do not appear to have moved Hamas away from its negotiating positions.
The previous ceasefire was meant to lead the sides to negotiate an end to the war, but that goal has been a repeated sticking point in talks between Israel and Hamas. Israel says it won’t agree to end the war until Hamas is defeated. Hamas meanwhile has demanded an agreement that winds down the war.
Israel’s expansion announcement has angered families of the hostages. The Hostage Forum, which supports families, said on Monday that the plan puts every hostage at risk and urged Israel’s decision-makers to secure a deal and prioritize the hostages.
At a Knesset committee meeting Monday, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage, called on soldiers “not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons.”
The Israeli officials did not disclose details on how the plan seeks to prevent Hamas from involvement in aid distribution. One said the ministers had approved “the option of aid distribution,” without elaborating.
According to an internal memo circulated among aid groups and seen by The Associated Press, Israel told the United Nations that it will use private security companies to control aid distribution in Gaza. The U.N., in a statement Sunday, said it would not participate in the plan as presented to it, saying it violates its core principles.
The memo, sent to aid organizations on Sunday, detailed notes from a meeting between the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT and the UN.
Under COGAT’s plan, all aid will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, letting approximately 60 trucks enter daily and distributing 20 kilograms of aid parcels directly to people on the day of entry, although their contents were unclear as was how many people will have access to the aid.
The memo said the aid will be distributed at logistics hubs, which will be run by private security companies. The memo said that facial recognition will be used to identify Palestinians at the hubs and SMS alerts will notify people in the area that they can collect aid.
Aid workers say the plan to centralize aid, rather than delivering it to Palestinians where they are, will forcibly displace people.
The fighting has displaced more than 90% of Gaza’s population, often multiple times, and turned Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape.
The U.N. said the plan would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies. It said the plan “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy.”
The memo says that the U.S. government has voiced clear support for Israel’s plan, but it’s unclear who would provide funding for the private military companies or the aid.
COGAT and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, the AP obtained dozens of documents about aid groups’ concerns that the hubs could end up permanently displacing Palestinians and forcing them to live in “de facto internment conditions”.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza continued overnight, killing at least 17 people in northern Gaza, according to hospital staff. Strikes hit Gaza City, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and among the dead were eight women and children, according to staff at the Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, although about 35 are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.
Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war and withdrew troops and settlers in 2005. Two years later, Hamas took over and has controlled the territory since.
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Mednick reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporter Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.
CARMEL, Ind. (THE REPORTER) — Beginning on or after Monday, May 5, the City of Carmel will begin construction of its 156th roundabout at the intersection of East 96th Street and North College Avenue as part of its ongoing infrastructure improvement initiative.
The intersection is managed by the City of Carmel and the project is designed to improve safety, traffic flow, and pedestrian access.
The roundabout project includes raised pedestrian crosswalks to enhance visibility and safety for pedestrians and marks the start of a broader transformation along North College Avenue that brings landscape enhancements, stormwater upgrades and the creation of a boulevard with expanded pedestrian connectivity.
“This project represents more than just another roundabout – it’s a vital improvement to safety and connectivity at one of our community’s major gateways,” City Engineer Bradley Pease said.
The roundabout is expected to be completed in July, aligning with the next phase of improvements along North College Avenue, north of Interstate 465.
To accommodate construction, clearly marked detour routes will be in place. Primary detour options include 91st Street, Spring Mill Road, and 106th Street, with additional alternative routes available via Westfield Boulevard and U.S. 31.
Open for business
Residents and visitors are encouraged to continue supporting the businesses at this intersection throughout the duration of the project. To ensure access to the businesses impacted by the construction, clear signage will be placed to guide residents, business staff and customers safely to their destination. Visitors to the locations listed below will have access using Westfield Boulevard, Real Street, and East 96th Street.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Temperatures will run around 10° below average this afternoon.
Monday:
Gloomy, cool, and at times damp conditions will continue to start the week as the upper-level cutoff low from the weekend lingers overhead.
Expect mainly cloudy skies, spotty showers, and below-average temperatures, with highs only reaching around 60°F this afternoon.
Monday night:
Low pressure will slowly drift eastward, maintaining cloud cover and a few scattered showers overnight.
Temperatures will remain chilly, with overnight lows dropping to the mid-40s.
Tuesday:
The closed low will finally begin to move east, allowing for gradually clearing skies throughout Tuesday. Spotty showers are possible Tuesday morning, but drier conditions are expected by Tuesday afternoon.
High temperatures should approach seasonal norms, reaching around 70°F in the afternoon.
Warmer late week:
A quieter weather pattern will set up for the middle and end of the week as high pressure settles in, suppressing significant rain chances for the second half of the week. High temperatures are expected to reach the mid-70s on Wednesday.
A slight chance of showers is possible on Thursday, especially in the southern counties of the state.
Extended forecast:
As of now, the weekend looks pleasant and potentially warmer, with highs reaching the low to mid-70s on Saturday and possibly approaching 80°F on Sunday.
The 8- to 14-day outlook indicates a strong signal for above-average temperatures through mid-month.
NEW YORK, May 05 (IPS) – Jesselina Rana is the UN Advisor at CIVICUS’s New York office. Mandeep S. Tiwana is Interim Co-Secretary General of CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. Climate change is threatening to engulf small island states such as Maldives and the Marshall Islands. Gender apartheid is still practiced in theocratic states such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. War crimes and genocide are taking place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Sudan.
