Latest news with #BetweentheLines
BBC News
31-03-2025
- BBC News
Rapper who sparked armed police swoop was 'under attack'
A rapper involved in a knife incident which saw armed police called out before he was due to headline a gig in Aberdeen claimed he was himself being attacked. Neriya Adiukwu, 20, was detained after the disturbance outside the Lemon Tree in August last lawyer told a court Adiukwu was attacked before appearing at the Between the Lines hip hop event but picked up a knife dropped by one of his assailants and lunged at the attackers. Adiukwu admitted knife offences at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where he was ordered to carry out unpaid work and be under supervision, as an alternative to custody. The court heard that on 16 August last year an event for up-and-coming hip hop artists was due to be held at The Lemon Tree in the evening, and Adiukwu was due to headline the at the sound check time in the afternoon a disturbance broke out outside the venue. One witness saw Adiukwu in a group of about seven or eight people when another group of men wearing black clothing and balaclavas ran towards court heard that a man dressed in a blue tracksuit was seen making a stabbing motion towards the other men with what appeared to be a knife. A police officer driving to begin her shift saw men fighting and chasing each other before one raised what she believed to be a large knife or machete above his head. Multiple police units arrived on the scene but found neither the accused nor any of the other people reviewed CCTV footage and saw that Adiukwu appeared to have been assaulted by the group. Adiukwu was then seen to retaliate by lunging at them with a large knife before re-entering The Lemon was found in the bathroom of the venue wearing the same clothing that was seen on camera. The Between the Lines event was cancelled due to what the venue described at the time as "unforeseen circumstances". 'Trouble came looking for him' Adiukwu admitted brandishing a knife and attempting to strike people with it, and being in possession of a solicitor Ian Woodward-Nutt said father-of-one Adiukwu was a rap artist who was finding success, and had signed to a local music said masked men had turned up to attack him."He was not looking for trouble, but unfortunately trouble came looking for him," Mr Woodward-Nutt solicitor said the incident was brief, and it was the other men who had been armed said the knife was dropped by one of the assailants, and Adiukwu picked it up, chased them and lunged at them."He accepts he went beyond what could be considered to be self-defence," he told the Woodward-Nutt asked for a non-custodial sentence to be considered, given the early guilty plea, mitigating circumstances, and his client's Craig Findlater said they were "serious" offences, but he considered that a community-disposal would be appropriate as a direct alternative to was given a community payback order of 24 months, meaning he will be under supervision, and must also carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
University of Iowa International Writing Program sees federal funding cuts
The University of Iowa International Writing Program will end certain programs and shrink its next cohort after seeing federal funding cuts. (Photo courtesy of the University of Iowa International Writing Program) One of the University of Iowa's premiere writing programs has seen its federal funding cut, the university announced Thursday, a blow causing the closures of programs and smaller cohorts. The UI International Writing Program announced online that as of Feb. 26, grants it had received from the U.S. Department of State and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs had been terminated. According to a notice cited in the release, programs funded by the grants 'no longer effectuate agency priorities,' and do not hold 'with agency priorities and national interest.' Canceled federal funding amounts to nearly $1 million, the university stated in a news release, the same amount that would have been generated for the U.S. economy by the program in the next year, as more than 90% of federal grant dollars are spent domestically. 'We are devastated by the abrupt end of this 58-year partnership and are working closely with the Office of General Counsel and the university's grant accounting office to review the terminations, understand their full impact, and respond in the best interest of the organization,' International Writing Program Director Christopher Merrill said in the release. 'Despite this disappointing turn of events, the IWP's mission remains the same and, with the help of a small number of other partners, we will still hold a 2025 fall residency as we also pursue new sources of funding.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Separate from the UI's Iowa Writers' Workshop, the International Writing Program brings international writers and literature to Iowa City and exposes American writers to cultures from across the globe, according to its website. Its main program is an 11-week residency that does not include academic credits. As a result of the cuts, the writing program will discontinue its summer youth program, Between the Lines, the Emerging Voices Mentorship Program, distance learning courses and more, according to the release. The fall 2025 residency cohort, which has traditionally brought in around 30 writers, will be cut in half. 'The Fall Residency is an 11-week program that brings established international writers to the UI campus, providing them with time to produce literary work, while also introducing the social and cultural fabrics of the United States,' the release stated. 'The experience enables them to take part in American university life and creates opportunities for them to contribute to literature courses both at the UI and across the country.' South Korean author and 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Han Kang attended the program in 1998, according to a news release, joining fellow program participants, Nobel Prize-winners and novelists Orhan Pamuk, born in Istanbul, and Chinese author Mo Yan. Founded in 1967 by Paul Engle and Hualing Nieh Engle, both of whom were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976, the release stated the program has welcomed more than 1,600 writers from more than 160 countries. The program stated in its announcement it will pursue new funding opportunities in the light of these losses and has other established funding streams in donors, grants, nongovernmental organizations and 'foreign ministries of culture.' The UI is also weathering uncertainty with other federally funded programs, especially research projects with National Institutes of Health grants. According to a March 5 update, Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued a preliminary injunction on a proposed 15% cap on indirect costs for NIH grants and contracts. The update stated the university will 'continue to submit research proposals according to our federal negotiated indirect cost rate agreement.' 'Considering the irreparable harm likely to befall similarly situated nonparties, the chaos that would result both for institutions and NIH from a patchwork of injunctions, the diffuse nature of the Plaintiffs, and the nature of the suit, a nationwide preliminary injunction is the appropriate and reasonable remedy,' Kelley wrote in her ruling. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
