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The Courier
6 days ago
- The Courier
Massive empty Kirkcaldy High Street store hid £6.5million cannabis farm
A man who paid £20,000 to come illegally to Britain became a key player in a £6.5 million cannabis farm brazenly located on busy Kirkcaldy High Street, a court heard. Petrit Gjuraj,24, was arrested after police caught him at a former branch of WH Smith in Kirkcaldy in 2022. The High Court in Edinburgh heard how officers who searched the three-storey building found a total of 1,330 cannabis plants, which were being grown on every floor. Workers slept in a small area which consisted of three double mattresses. The court heard detectives also found a large television which showed live CCTV footage from a camera at the back of the premises, focused on the back door. The cannabis being grown there could have netted the organised crime group a total of £6,596,800. On Wednesday, judge Lord Scott heard about the moment police arrested Gjuraj, an Albanian national with an address in Paisley. Prosecutor Alan Cameron KC said: 'Police Scotland received intelligence that cannabis was being cultivated within the three storey, disused premises at 183-187 High Street, Kirkcaldy. 'Police cars arrived at the front and rear of the premises to search them. 'The accused and three other males were seen from the police helicopter, exiting onto the roof of the building via a fire escape and running west along the roof of the adjacent building. 'It became apparent to officers that the males had no means of escape.' After trying to hide, they were brought down from the roof. Gjura pled guilty to being concerned in cultivating cannabis at the premises between March and May 2022. Mr Cameron told the court the accused told police he had paid someone in Albania £20,000 to come to the UK. 'The arrangement was that should he not carry out the work, then his family in Albania would have to sell their property to repay the debt. 'He made his own way to Belgium and then hid in a lorry and by hiding in the lorry was able to enter the UK. 'He worked in London before moving to Scotland, where he worked for two months in the building where he was subsequently found by the police.' The court was told he had no right to be in the UK and had not been trafficked. The premises – extensively damaged by fire in August 2022 – were set up for 'maximum cannabis cultivation'. Officers say the organised crime group spent £70,000 on cultivation. Detectives recovered 392 cannabis plants from the ground floor, 740 plants from the first floor and 146 plants from the top floor. Mr Cameron added: 'If the cannabis cultivated was sold in one eighth deals that would amount to approximately 164,920 deals at £40 per deal. 'This would have yielded approximately £6,596,800.' Lord Scott remanded the accused in custody ahead of a sentencing hearing next month, after a background report has been prepared. He said: 'A prison sentence is inevitable here. 'This was clearly a vey significant drugs operation carried out on behalf of an organised crime group. 'The agreed narrative tells me that you must have been a person trusted by the serious organised crime group.' Gjuraj will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on June 19 2025.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas Revs the Growth Machine
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week's stories include: The near death of Texas' Starter Home Act Colorado's pending ban on rent-recommendation algorithm software A very Catholic story of eminent domain abuse But first, our lead item on the success of pro-supply housing bills in Texas. On May 20, the Texas House passed Senate Bill 840, which allows developers in larger counties to build residential and mixed-use developments on commercially zoned land "by-right." That means local governments can't force builders to go through extensive, expensive, and discretionary processes of requesting rezonings and variances. The bill "would make converting empty office spaces into housing units much easier," reads an analysis from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Similar to Florida's Live Local Act, the bill also limits localities' ability to impose height and density restrictions on new residential developments on commercially zoned land. Cities would have to allow these new developments to be built at least at a density of 36 units per acre and 45 feet tall. Housing wonks describe the bill as clean and "muscular." Today, the Texas Senate concurred with the House amendments to S.B. 840. It will now go to Gov. Greg Abbot's desk. Also headed to the governor's desk is House Bill 24, which places new limits on valid petition rights that property owners can use to halt zoning changes. H.B. 24, a reform to the so-called "tyrant's veto", raises the percentage of property owners required to challenge a rezoning from 20 percent to 60 percent. It also lowers a city council's vote threshold to override these challenges from a supermajority to a simple majority. Neighborhood activists in Austin famously used their valid petition rights to thwart upzonings in that city. With H.B. 24's reforms, that will be a harder thing to pull off. Still pending approval is Senate Bill 15, a.k.a. the Texas Starter Homes Act. Described as a "smaller homes on smaller lots bill," the legislation would prevent local governments from setting minimum lot sizes of over 1,400 square feet in new subdivisions of five acres or more. The bill only applies to cities of 150,000 people in counties of 300,000 people or more. S.B. 15 had already passed the Senate with a 29–2 vote back in March. It was scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives this weekend, where it nearly died. As the Texas Tribune reports, House Democrats led by Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. (D–Fort Worth) attempted to kill the bill on a procedural move. Romero had requested a "point of order" about the bill's exclusion of land around a planned Dallas County police training facility. This, said Romero, violated legislative rules about singling out individual jurisdictions in legislation. That point of order was accepted, preventing further discussion of the bill. But, reports the Tribune, the bill's supporters in the House managed to "fast-track" the legislation by removing the offending provision so that it will be considered on the floor again today. Romero told Tribune reporter Joshua Fetcher that he'd seen no evidence that allowing smaller homes on smaller lots would reduce home prices. He might want to look a little harder. The Mercatus Center's Emily Hamilton found in a 2024 study that Houston's minimum lot size reforms, on which the Texas Starter Home bill is modeled, facilitated an "unprecedented" increase in the rates of infill housing construction in single-family neighborhoods. Houston's reforms "had no detectable effect on land values, and she finds some evidence that it reduced land values. This may be because it has facilitated a large amount of housing construction," according to Hamilton's study. In recent years, software sold by companies like RealPage that recommend to landlords profit-maximizing rent and occupancy levels has come under fire for making housing less affordable. Critics charge that these products allow landlords to collude on prices in order to raise rents to above-market rates. The federal government and several states have sued RealPage for antitrust violations. States and cities have also started to crack down with legislation of their own. Earlier this month, the Colorado Legislature passed H.B. 25-1004, which would "ban the use, sale and distribution of software that uses an algorithm to set rents." (Colorado is one of the states suing RealPage.) The bill is now on Gov. Jared Polis' desk, who has not said whether he'll sign or veto it. "We're all for math and algorithms. At the same time, there is the concept of antitrust, which has been abused, but also has a core role in preventing monopolistic pricing practices," Polis told Reason in a Friday interview. "It's a question of: Is this an algorithm that reduces market friction and leads to more efficient pricing or is it a backdoor effort to exert monopolistic control over pricing?" The limited academic research on rent-recommendation algorithms suggests that they do in fact facilitate more efficient pricing. One study found that landlords who use these products lower rents faster in down markets and raise them faster in hot markets. RealPage critics would seem to have a hard time explaining why rents in Austin, where lots of landlords use RealPage products, are slashing rents in response to a glut of new supply. Last week, news broke that the village of Dolton, Illinois, is threatening to seize via eminent domain the childhood home of newly elected Pope Leo XIV from its current owners, who recently bought and renovated the home and are now selling it at auction. As I wrote last week: At present, the owners are auctioning off the small, 1949-built home for a reserve price of $250,000. In a Tuesday letter to the auction house running the sale, Dolton attorney Burton Odelson cautioned buyers against purchasing the house. "Please inform any prospective buyers that their 'purchase' may only be temporary since the Village intends to begin the eminent domain process very shortly," reads Odelson's letter, per NBC Chicago. Odelson told Chicago's ABC7 that the village had initially tried to voluntarily purchase the home but had snagged on the sale price. "We've tried to negotiate with the owner. [He] wants too much money, so we will either negotiate with the auction house or, as the letter stated that I sent to the auction house, we will take it through eminent domain, which is our right as a village," Odelson said. It's a wonder why the village can't pursue a voluntary sale, given the relatively low reserve price of the home. The potential for the modest, 75-year-old home to serve as a historic site surely couldn't boost the sale price that much. Seizing the home via eminent domain would seem to contradict the last Pope Leo's defense of private property and, in particular, privately owned family estates, in his famous 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. Wrote Pope Leo XIII, "Every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own." The plans of contemporary socialists to seize private property, Leo XIII denounced as "emphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is very pleased that at least one home in Pacific Palisades is under construction following the deadly wildfires that struck the area earlier this year. Los Angeles–area builders are less impressed with the mayor's streamlining efforts. Politico reports on a brewing split between the California Assembly and Senate on this session's housing bills. The Assembly has been passing a litany of YIMBY ("yes in my backyard") bills to streamline development. They face an uncertain future in the Senate. Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire has been less than keen on such efforts. Senate Housing Chair Aisha Wahab (D–Hayward) is even more critical by arguing that lowering building costs doesn't necessarily reduce housing costs. At The Volokh Conspiracy, George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin lays out some of the legal problems Toms River, New Jersey, might face if it follows through on its plans to use eminent domain to prevent a church from building a homeless shelter. Bisnow reports on the dire financial state of New York's rent-stabilized housing stock. If you have a home in Minnesota, you soon might not be able to get inside it, thanks to the state's impending ban on lead content in keys that makes most keys illegal. The post Texas Revs the Growth Machine appeared first on
Mint
22-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Apollo SBI Card Select offers huge savings on medical expenses: Should you take it?
Do you or someone in the family require regular medical support? It may be in the form of doctor consultations, diagnostic tests, medicines, etc. If yes, you can save money on these medical expenses with the Apollo SBI Card Select. The savings can go up to a whopping 25%. In this article, we will look at the features and benefits of this card and whether you should take it. The Apollo SBI Card Select is a co-branded credit card launched by Apollo 24|7 in partnership with SBI Card. It offers healthcare and wellness benefits across the Apollo ecosystem. It also gives rewards on non-healthcare spends like dining, entertainment, and travel, along with complimentary domestic airport lounge access. The features and benefits of the Apollo SBI Card Select include the following. Welcome benefit: The cardholder gets a welcome benefit of Rs. 1,500 Apollo 24|7 e-gift voucher on payment of joining fee. The voucher can be redeemed offline at Apollo Pharmacy stores and online through the Apollo 24|7 platform. It can be redeemed against medicines, Apollo private label products, FMCG and other healthcare products. Apollo Circle benefits: The cardholder gets complimentary in-built Apollo Circle benefits in the form of value back and savings. The benefits apply when transacting using the Apollo SBI Card Select at Apollo Pharmacy stores and on the Apollo 24|7 website/App. Some of these benefits include: Up to 15% value back on medicines Up to 20% value back on diagnostic services Up to 10% value back on doctor consultations The value back is credited as Health Credits to the Apollo 24|7 wallet. The value of each Health Credit is Rs. 1. Health benefits: You get to enjoy a 1-year complimentary Fitpass Pro membership on payment of the joining fee and doing one retail transaction. The membership gives access to a network of gyms and other fitness centres. On spending Rs. 50,000 within 90 days of card membership, you get a complimentary comprehensive health check-up. The complimentary health check-up can be availed every year on spending Rs. 50,000 within 90 days of card renewal. The reward points awarded on the card are as follows: 10 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on Apollo 24|7 and Apollo Pharmacy stores. A cardholder can earn a maximum of 5,000 reward points in this category per statement cycle. 2 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on dining, movies and entertainment, and travel. A cardholder can earn a maximum of 5,000 reward points in this category per statement cycle. 1 reward point for every Rs. 200 spent on other purchases Reward points must be converted into Health Credits on the SBI Card website and App. The value of 1 reward point equals 1 Health Credit. The converted Health Credits will reflect in the Apollo 24|7 wallet. The value of each Health Credit is Rs. 1. Health Credits can be used within the Apollo ecosystem, including Apollo 24|7, Apollo Diagnostics, Apollo Medical Centres, and Apollo Pharmacy. Health Credits can be used to pay for doctor consultations, diagnostic tests, medicine orders, etc. The Health Credits wallet balance will be auto-applied at checkout for eligible transactions. Milestone benefits: On annual spends of Rs. 6 lakhs on the card, the cardholder gets complimentary Noise Smartwatch worth Rs. 7,999. Airport lounge access: The cardholder can enjoy 4 complimentary domestic airport lounge access per year (1 per quarter). The cardholder gets a 2-year complimentary Priority Pass membership worth $99. Fuel surcharge waiver: The 1% fuel surcharge is waived across all petrol pumps in India. The waiver applies to fuel transactions between Rs. 500 and Rs. 4,000. The maximum surcharge waiver is Rs. 100 per month. When you purchase medicines from an Apollo Pharmacy or the Apollo 24|7 platform, you get two benefits. You get 10 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent. The 10 reward points are equivalent to 10 Health Credits. As part of Apollo Circle benefits, you get up to 15% value back as Health Credits in your Apollo 24|7 wallet. Clubbing the two benefits: Reward points (10% value back) on the card and Health Credits (up to 15% value back) on the Apollo Circle membership. When you combine the two benefits, you can get total benefits of up to 25% value back. That is an excellent value back on medicine purchases. Similarly, clubbing the two benefits on doctor consultations gives up to 20% value back and on diagnostic tests gives up to 30% value back. All these benefits will result in a lot of savings on medical expenses. As the Apollo SBI Card Select is a co-branded card issued in partnership with Apollo 24|7, it limits the cardholder to the Apollo ecosystem. The only way to redeem the reward points is to convert them into Health Credits by transferring them to the Apollo 24|7 wallet. The reward rate falls sharply when you use the card outside the Apollo ecosystem. Members who are already a part of the Apollo ecosystem will find a lot of value in this credit card. Others will have to move to the Apollo ecosystem to get good value out of this card. The joining fee for the card is Rs. 1,499 + Taxes. The renewal fee is Rs. 1,499 + Taxes. The renewal fee is waived on spending Rs. 3 lakhs in the previous year. If you or someone in your family needs regular medical support, you may consider the Apollo SBI Card Select. It gives benefits like healthcare discounts and value back within the Apollo ecosystem, a complimentary Fitpass Pro membership, a health check-up, etc. It also offers other benefits like complimentary domestic airport lounge access, complimentary Noise Smartwatch on annual milestone spend, reversal of renewal fee based on spends in the previous year, etc. Overall, it is a good credit card packed with powerful features and benefits. Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.
Mint
20-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Pakistan's IMF bailout: Good money after bad again?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed tough conditions on Pakistan for disbursing instalments of the $7 billion loan that Islamabad negotiated with it under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Such IMF credit comes not so much with avuncular indulgence as with tough conditionalities meant to stabilize macro-economic variables. The IMF is also giving Pakistan a climate resilience loan of $1.4 billion. We should wish the country all the fortitude it can summon to swallow that bitter medicine. Also Read: The IMF's Pakistan loan spotlights the case for voting power reform It is not in India's interest for any large poverty-ridden nation to implode in its neighbourhood. Pakistan has a quarter of a billion people, 40% of them below the World Bank's poverty line for lower-middle-income countries, 42% of them illiterate and multitudes apparently in thrall to distorted versions of Islam. This is the 13th time Pakistan has tapped the IMF for bailout funds since 1991, when India last took a loan from the multilateral lender. Back then, New Delhi used IMF conditionalities to justify tough decisions that ruffled vested interests but opened up India's economy to competition, both external and internal, and spurred economic growth. The IMF has done well to caution Pakistan that continued hostility towards India would damage its reputation and derail its recovery from perpetual crisis. India's defence minister Rajnath Singh made a fine point when he said that funds going to Pakistan under whatever guise or for whatever purpose amount to terror financing. Money, after all, is fungible. Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Pakistan's IMF bailout No. 24 and loan addiction If external funds are available to stabilize Islamabad's finances and cushion the adjustment process as energy prices shed subsidies and selective state patronage masked as industrial policy is withdrawn, the resources needed for such constructive ends could go elsewhere. Diverted funds may reach what the Pakistani deep state calls 'strategic depth' acquired through unconventional methods. The cost is borne mostly by India, which has suffered relentless terror attacks. As a lender to Pakistan, the IMF must closely monitor the end use of not just the funds disbursed under the EFF, but also of the local funds freed up by their infusion. If there was ever a case for extra-tight oversight, this is it. Economic dynamism calls for macro stability and the development of human capital via quality education and healthcare. These are only the necessary conditions, not sufficient ones. Also Read: Pakistan must wake up and smell the geo-economic brew Cultural attitudes towards risk and failure are vital to entrepreneurship. By one hypothesis, Pakistan is short of social groups accustomed to making money by venturing it. Effective financial intermediation is a tough ask anywhere in the world, but tougher still in a place where an important form of return on capital—interest on debt—is seen by many through a prism of sin versus virtue. Conservative values keep women out of the labour force. The female labour-force participation rate for Pakistan is only 24%, far below Bangladesh's 44%, Indonesia's 53% and the world average of 49%. This deprives the economy of a sizeable part of the human effort that can be mobilized to generate value. Meanwhile, concentration of asset ownership worsens its woes of underdevelopment and contributes to keeping its democracy stunted. Addressing such problems calls for an emancipatory agenda and the political will to pursue it. An IMF stabilization programme is a far cry from what's needed to transform Pakistan, but perhaps it can stave off despair. And we could do with less hopelessness around us.
Daily Mirror
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
ITV viewers can now stream 'best show of 2023' for free
The show comes from the directors of hit series Paradise A Game of Thrones star legend and Kiefer Sutherland are lighting up screens in an 'addictive' spy thriller that's just landed on ITVX for free binge-watching. The complete series of the gripping espionage drama 'Rabbit Hole' has been dropped into ITVX's eclectic mix of shows. Initially a 2023 exclusive on Paramount+ with a premium subscription, it's now available to all at no extra charge. 'Rabbit Hole' stars Sutherland as John Weir, a master manipulator in the cutthroat world of corporate spying, who finds himself wrongly accused of murder by shadowy figures with the power to sway the masses. The show boasts a stellar lineup including 'Game of Thrones' alum Charles Dance, Meta Golding, Enid Graham, Jason Butler Harner, Walt Klink, and Rob Yang. Behind the scenes, the series is the brainchild of directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, known for their work on the acclaimed thriller 'Paradise', reports Surrey Live. ITV's Sasha Breslau, Head of Content Acquisitions, praised the series: "Kiefer Sutherland is magnetic as the lead in this addictive and tense thriller. Rabbit Hole is a perfect fit for the kind of premium drama our audiences expect from ITVX." With a solid 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes, 'Rabbit Hole' is poised to become a cult favourite. Some even suggest that fans of the Apple TV hit Slow Horses should queue it up next. They're billing it as the 'ultimate spy thriller' and the buzz around the series is raving, drawing parallels to the iconic show 24, partly due to its nail-biting premise and the star power of its lead. Critics are singing praises; one went so far as to say that it was the best show of the year it was first aired. Their verdict didn't end there: "Rabbit Hole is easily one of the best series of 2023 so far. If you're into thrilling storylines and mind blowing twists and turns delivered with a highly cinematic aesthetic, Rabbit Hole is an absolute must-see." Adding their voice, another critic enthused: "You wouldn't believe all the craziness that Kiefer Sutherland encounters every 24 oh wait, you WOULD believe it or at least go with it, especially if you were a fan of the ludicrous but undeniably entertaining 24.." Many viewers who have already seen the show have shared their thoughts online with their recommendations. A fan exclaimed: "Excellent show which both my husband and I really liked. Lots of twists and turns and misdirection." They continued: "This is NOT a show to watch while playing with your phone, as there are time jumps along with the twists and you'll get lost, but it's definitely worth the undivided attention. Give it more than one episode to catch the full experience. Bingeing is recommended." Another viewer shared: "One of the best things I've watched this year. It's like watching a season of 24; intense, twisty, very well acted. A twist in nearly every episode, so rabbit hole is accurate! Towards the end you feel like the lead, completely uncertain what is real." Rabbit Hole is streaming on ITVX.
