The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was arrested in an excise-related money laundering case on Thursday.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was arrested in an excise-related money laundering case on Thursday. This comes hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection to the national AAP convenor against coercive action taken by the organization. Soon after the arrest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on the Delhi CM, saying the people of the national capital voted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for better schools, but they chose to open a liquor store.

Speaking to news agency ANI, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, “The people of Delhi had voted you to power to make a better ‘paathshala’, but you opened a ‘madhushala’. When action is taken against this corruption with the nod of the court, and you have skipped 9 summons from the ED, you are still playing the victim card. The SC has traced a money trail of Rs 338 crore.”

“He followed in the footsteps of Lalu Prasad Yadav, did not cooperate in the investigation and is now talking about running the government from jail,” he added.

Initially, Ms. Burkhart said, “He scared the hell out of me,” with his defiance of death threats and a dry sense of humor that people sometimes mistook for brusqueness. But they were “simpatico,” she said. She didn’t mind him calling her at 1am since she was also at work.

“He really understood, and I understood, that this work is risky, that you have to take risks, think outside the box and sometimes make big, difficult and challenging decisions.”

Over the next eight years, she became his clinic’s public face in state politics. She appreciated his approach to the Legislature in opposing efforts to enact even seemingly innocuous rules on abortion providers — for example, requiring their treatment rooms to be larger than those in other surgical practices — because he believed those laws would only but would make it easier for abortion providers. Opponents of abortion are pushing for more restrictions.

Dr. Tiller’s opponents accused him of running a “baby-killing factory,” but Ms. Burkhart saw only deep involvement. “On his practice and on the people,” Ms. Burkhart said. “I really admired that, that he thought everyone deserves forgiveness, redemption, that it’s part of life.”

In May 2009, an extremist who later testified that he had been plotting for years to kill Dr. Tiller, fatally shooting him in his church. The funeral was standing room only. Ms. Burkhart mostly remembers her anger. The political action committee that Dr. Tiller had founded, ProKanDo, had been the state’s largest campaign donor, yet she felt that the politicians it supported had been too timid to stand up for him, or for abortion rights. “I remember people saying, ‘This is devastating, this is terrible, how can this happen?’” she said. “I thought, ‘How do you think this happened?'”

The Princess of Wales showed no signs of feeling unwell during a busy December in which she hosted a royal carol concert, attended the Royal Family’s annual Sandringham church service and opened a new children’s surgery unit.

Having attended several royal engagements last month, it’s been 23 days since Kate was last seen in public.

The future Queen, who has undergone abdominal surgery, is expected to be out of action until after Easter and away from royal duties for up to three months.

Kate, 42, was last seen on Christmas Day when she walked to church with the rest of the Royal Family. 

She held hands with her daughter Princess Charlotte as she grinned at well-wishers while strolling to the service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham.

On December 8, the princess was also busy hosting her annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey.

The service has become a regular festive feature of the royal calendar, with Prince George, Charlotte, Prince Louis, the Prince of Wales and other royals gathering to support Kate.

Kate was also pictured crouching down and high-fiving a group of children who have ‘gone above and beyond for charity’.

She spoke to seven-year-old Oscar Burrow, from Lancaster, who raised more than £40,000 for Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley, Lancashire, by climbing 12 mountains at the age of six.

His mother Kimberley Burrow said afterwards: ‘She said she’d heard about what he’s done and he’s doing a fantastic job, and hopes what he’s doing will inspire other children to do amazing things.’

A week prior to the concert, Kate was greeted with cheers and applause as she opened a new Children’s Day Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

She was pictured being reunited with fundraising amputee Tony Hudgell and his adopted mother.

Tony, who became the youngest person to be recognised in the New Year Hoinours list, raised more than £1.6 million by walking 10km on his prosthetic legs in aid of the Evelina London Children’s Hospital which cared for him.

The young amputee, who was filmed posing with the royal and his mother, previously charmed Kate and William at her festive carol concert in 2021. It was reported at the time that the royal couple ‘spent ages’ chatting with Tony.

Kate also put on a dazzling display in some of the Royal Family’s most cherished jewels for a Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace on December 6.

She and the Prince of Wales joined King Charles and Queen Camilla for the white-tie event which is held every year and sees more than 500 members of the Diplomatic Corps hosted in the palace’s state rooms.

Kate took centre stage in a rose gold Jenny Packham ‘Georgia’ gown costing approximately £5,000, which was embellished with sequins.

Kate paired the stunning ballgown, which she has previously worn to attend the wedding reception of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Princess Rajwa in June 2023, with a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order sash.

To add to the glamour, Kate sported the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara. The dazzling diamond and pearl tiara was once owned by Prince William’s mother Princess Diana.

The tiara, which Kate’s mother-in-law said was so heavy it gave her headaches, was kept in a safe at Buckingham Palace after Princess Diana’s 1997 death before it was handed to William’s wife.

It was made by Royal jewellers Garrard in 1914 to Queen Mary’s personal design, from pearls and diamonds already in her family’s possession.

Queen Mary had commissioned it to replicate her grandmother, Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge’s, early 1800s Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, according to jewellery historian and novelist Josie Goodbody.

The princess turned 42 on January 9, and while the monarchy’s official social media accounts celebrated the day with a behind the scenes photo of Kate at the coronation, there was unusually no customary response from Kensington Palace this year thanking well-wishers for their messages.

The princess will miss the Baftas in February, the annual Commonwealth Day service and the St David’s Day Parade at the start of March as well as the St Patrick’s Day parade with the military later the same month.

The Prince of Wales is also temporarily stopping official duties to care for his wife and children while the princess is in hospital for the next fortnight, and during the immediate period when she returns home.

The couple’s reported trip to Italy in the spring looks in jeopardy, with the pair not expected to carry out any overseas travel in the coming months.

There is also traditionally an incoming state visit in the spring, which would be hosted by the King, supported by William and Kate at the banquet and other engagements.

The princess, who will recuperate at the Waleses’ family home Adelaide Cottage in Windsor’s Home Park, is known for being fit, sporty and competitive at team games.

She enjoys playing tennis and is a fan of cold water swimming.

She was previously admitted to hospital while pregnant after suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum – severe morning sickness.

And last year she was spotted with two fingers strapped up as a precaution after a trampoline accident.

The princess also has a scar on her left temple under her hair relating to a childhood operation.

William’s former university flatmate Kate has carefully carved out her charity work since marrying the prince in 2011 and becoming an HRH.

Gradually and patiently developing her role over the years, she has focused on mental health and the early years of childhood, and is known to meticulously research the issues facing the charities she works with.

Kate and William have faced personal challenges in recent years, dealing with the fallout from Megxit and the Sussexes’ bombshell claims.

The princess was publicly singled out by the Duchess of Sussex in the primetime television Oprah Winfrey interview for allegedly making former Suits actress Meghan cry in the run-up to her wedding.

It related to a disagreement over flower girl dresses and Meghan said the Palace failed to correct reports which said she left Kate in tears.

In his memoir Spare, Harry alleged it was William and Kate who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005 and ‘howled’ with laughter when they saw it.

The princess was accused of being ‘cold’ and ignoring the Duchess of Sussex’s ‘cries for help’ in Endgame by royal writer Omid Scobie, who is seen as a cheerleader for Meghan.

Kate, who has remained silent about the allegations, has often been hailed for her levelheadedness, her measured outlook and her bubbly, kind nature.

Family life is sacrosanct to Kate – mother to 10-year-old George, Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Louis.

She remains close to her parents Carole and Michael Middleton and siblings Pippa Matthews and James Middleton, and had a happy home life growing up.

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born to the Middletons at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on January 9 1982.

She was christened at the parish church of St Andrew’s Bradfield in Berkshire on June 20 the same year.

Amman in Jordan was home to Kate and her family for a few years in the mid-1980s, where she attended a nursery school from the age of three, before the family returned to Berkshire.

At 13, she went to the exclusive private Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she part-boarded.

She graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 in history of art from St Andrews University, where she met and began dating William, whom she married at Westminster Abbey in 2011.

She was dubbed ‘Waity Katie’ for her patience during their long courtship, and was described by William in their engagement interview as having ‘a really naughty sense of humour’.

A keen photographer, the princess usually takes the publicly released photos of her children to mark their birthdays.

Andrew Scott has revealed he once had to interrupt his performance of Hamlet after an audience member opened his laptop.

The Irish actor, 47, played the titular role in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy at London’s Almeida Theater in 2017.

He received critical acclaim for his performance, earning him a nomination for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.

However, Andrew has now revealed that not all theatergoers were equally impressed with his portrayal.

Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he recalled how an audience member memorably took out his laptop to answer emails mid-show.

He said: ‘When I was playing Hamlet, a man took out his laptop – not his phone, his laptop – while I was in the middle of a ‘to be or not to f***ing be’ situation.

‘I was taking a break and [the stage team] I was like, ‘Keep going,’ and I was like, ‘That’s impossible. I stopped for an eternity.

Andrew added that the woman next to the rude onlooker warned him and eventually made him put his computer away.

He concluded: ‘He had absolutely no doubts’.

It marks a new incident in a growing problem of problematic audience members interrupting stage productions.

Richard Griffiths threatened to leave the stage during The History Boys in 2006 after a phone rang three times during his performance.

The late actor told the audience: ‘You should be ashamed of yourselves. I’m not going to compete with these electronic devices. The director told you to turn them off, you were told it was against the law.

“We’re going to start this scene over again. If we hear another phone ringing, we will stop this afternoon’s performance. You have been warned.’

The year before, he ordered a woman out of his performance of Heroes at Wyndham’s Theater, telling her: “The 750 people here would be completely justified in suing you for ruining their afternoon.”

In 2009, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig confronted a theatergoer whose phone went off during their Broadway play, A Steady Rain.

Hugh stopped his performance to speak to the phone’s owner: ‘You want to get that? Do you want to get it? Grab it. I do not mind.’

As the ringing continued, the actor said angrily, “Come on, just turn it off… Unless you have a better story.” Will you stand up and tell your stories?’

His co-star Daniel then joined in, saying: ‘Can you get that? We can wait, just pick up the phone’.

James McAvoy brought a 2013 theater production of Macbeth to a halt when he noticed an audience member was filming his performance.

The actor stopped the show to berate the man and refused to continue the play until the camera was securely stowed away.

In her 2015 Broadway debut, Keira Knightley’s production of Therese Raquin was also paused after an audience member proposed to the actress.

Other attendees reported that the man shouted at Keira and threw a bouquet of flowers at the stage as she tried to stay in character.

Finally, security threw the heckler out in handcuffs while the play had a brief intermission.

Patti LuPone famously ripped a phone out of a person’s hand in the audience during her 2015 Shows for Days performance after they were caught texting.

The phone was returned after the show, but Patti released a statement saying, “We work hard on stage to create a world that is totally destroyed by a few rude, self-centered and inconsiderate audience members controlled by their phones .

“They can’t put them down. “If a phone goes off or an LED screen shows up in the dark, it ruins the experience for everyone else: most of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage.”

Like Andrew, Benedict Cumberbatch also took on the role of Hamlet in 2015 when he complained about phones in the audience.

Addressing the audience, he made an impassioned plea: “I see cameras in the room. It may not be any of you here, but it’s obvious.

“It’s humbling and there’s nothing less supportive or enjoyable about an actor experiencing that on stage.

“What I really want to do is try to hire you. I don’t use social media and I would really appreciate it if you would tweet, blog or hashtag this for me.

“This isn’t my fault to you, I’m just asking you to keep it flowing out there in the brilliantly beautiful way you do with your funny electronic stuff. I would really appreciate it.’

And it’s not just the regular attendees who are being criticized for rude behaviour, with Lin-Manuel Miranda angry at pop star Madonna for ‘texting a lot’ while in the audience of Hamilton in 2015.

The musical’s creator and star reportedly banned Madonna from returning, with star Jonathan Groff adding: ‘That b***h was on her phone. You couldn’t miss it from the stage.

“It was a black void of the audience in front of us and her face there perfectly illuminated by the light of her iPhone for three-quarters of the show.”

EXCLUSIVE

A family from a residential area on the western edge of the city in Sydney are still living in grinding poverty 11 years after they were featured in a documentary about their lives.

Little has changed for the Burns family, who opened their home to ABC cameras for a Four Corners program titled Growing up poor in 2012.

Today, Brett and Caroline Burns still live in social housing in the suburb of Claymore, 54km south-west of the CBD and known for its high unemployment and crime rates.

At the time of filming, the Burns family had lived in their dilapidated mansion for 13 years. This year marks 24 years since they called Claymore, known as a “welfare ghetto,” home.

Caroline apologized as she welcomed Daily Mail Australia into her home. ‘Apologies for the mess. We are still waiting for new housing,” she said.

Like many other families in Claymore, Centrelink is the Burns’ source of income, while Caroline and Brett are not working.

The cycle of poverty and unemployment has continued for the couple’s eldest son, Hayden, 25, who still lives at home with his parents and sister Haylie, 14.

Hayden spends his days scouring neighborhood trash cans for empty bottles and cans that he then exchanges for a 10-cent refund.

At the time the documentary was filmed, Hayden, then 14, was struggling with bullying at school, and his parents’ constant arguments caused him to withdraw from the family.

During the program, Brett moved into the garage due to his arguments with Caroline. It was later revealed that Brett had physically abused her in front of the children.

Today the couple continue their fraught relationship, but Caroline believes their overall circumstances have improved and is looking forward to settling into a new cafe provided by the NSW Government under a ‘social re-engineering project’ .

“The area is a lot better than it was back then,” she said.

The Claymore housing estate was built by the NSW government in the 1970s and is home to more than 3,000 of the state’s poorest families.

Forty years later, Claymore remains a depressing sight with many burned and abandoned homes and trash in the community.

But Claymore, along with neighboring Bonnyrigg Heights and Airds, is set to undergo a transformation as part of the big social project.

“It is in the fifth phase of an eight-phase redevelopment,” Campbelltown MP Greg Warren said.

“Building materials and the pandemic have delayed construction. At this stage it is unknown when the project will be completed.”

Under the new project, the redevelopment will include a mix of new public and private housing.

Kaisey, 29, a long-time resident of the area, says the area is a lot safer since residents have been slowly resettled.

“I used to live on Ramsay Way but our house was set on fire,” the mother-of-three said.

‘It’s all changing now that they’re tearing everything down – it looks rough, but it’s safe. I love Claymore.’

By Mary Mrad for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 5:51 PM EST, December 20, 2023 | Updated: 11:09 PM EST, December 20, 2023

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium oozed effortless glamor as she returned to the hospital she opened when she was just nine years old.

The heir to the Belgian throne, 22, wore a pea green jacket and single-breasted trousers as she visited the Princess Elisabeth Children’s Hospital, the children’s department of Ghent University Hospital.

The young royal wore a sheer gray turtleneck underneath and completed her outfit with some chunky gold earrings.

Elisabeth – who is currently studying at Oxford University – wore her long brown hair down and wore shimmering silver eyeshadow.

The royal kept her makeup minimal for the most part, opting for a bronzed complexion and nude glossy lip.

Elisabeth was warmly welcomed by the hospital staff and presented with several bunches of flowers.

The royal showed off her natural way with children as she was shown around the hospital, which specializes in treating children with chronic illnesses.

The future queen enjoyed taking part in some craft activities with young patients and chatting with staff and volunteers during the visit.

The princess opened the hospital in September 2011 when she was just nine years old.

It promises to be a busy week for the royal family, who are at university during their Christmas holidays.

Last night the young royal joined her siblings and parents for a Christmas reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels.

Princess Elisabeth, born on October 25, 2001, is the eldest of the four children of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.

When her father became king in 2013, Elisabeth became heir to the throne and Duchess of Brabant. Due to birthright changes in 1991, she will one day become the nation’s first queen.

Like a number of other European monarchs, including Princess Leonor of Spain and Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Elisabeth attended Atlantic College in Wales before moving to Oxford.

The school curriculum, nicknamed ‘Hippie Hogwarts’, includes unusual activities such as Tai Chi and Tibetan literature. It has a remarkable cliff-top location in a 12th-century castle in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Elisabeth enrolled on a two-year, £67,000 course to study for her International Baccalaureate diploma at the school, which she has now completed.

The Princess also attended the Yale Young Global Scholars Program at Yale University.

She then completed a one-year course in social and military sciences at the Royal Military Academy, which would provide in-depth instruction in the four components of Belgian defense: army, air force, navy and medical care.

In October 2021, the Princess began studying history and politics at Lincoln College, Oxford. Here she rows for the Lincoln College Boat Club under the name ‘Elisabeth de Saxe-Coburg’.

According to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the princess took a written history entrance exam ‘anonymously’ so that her social status would not affect her grades.

It is believed that Elisabeth chose the course herself, in consultation with her parents, and reportedly consulted with graduates from various universities and made her decision based on what would be most useful to her in her role as queen later in her life.

The high-achieving princess, who is fluent in Dutch, French, German and English, recently spent two years participating in the Royal Military Academy’s annual three-week summer camps and other practical and theoretical military classes.

• Historic J&G Innes Ltd has been selling books and stationery in St Andrews since 1879
• It will close on December 31, when current owner Jude Innes retires

By Jacob Judah

Published: 1:52 PM EST, December 4, 2023 | Updated: 5:21 PM EST, December 4, 2023