Latest news with #Omar
Buzz Feed
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
The 23 Best Funny Wholesome Posts Online This Week
Happy weekend, BuzzFeeders!!! I've spent the week compiling the cutest, happiest, and most wholesome posts just for you, Hopefully, they'll cheer you up a bit and remind you that no matter what, there's always cute stuff out there in the world to appreciate and love! This dog behavior: The idea of people building ladders just for cats: This mother-daughter bonding moment: This person's hilarious grandma: Miss Pigeon: The idea of rescuing such a beautiful flower This cute cat: The fact that someone restored this cool old car: The largest oak tree in Germany: This little cat: This little Aries: Setting up and decorating a home you love: Omar in a box: This funny St. Anthony moment: This little kid conversation: Part one, baking bread... Part two, DEVOURING your delicious fresh-baked bread: This wholesome, happy success moment: This unexpectedly hilarious toddler moment: Recreating this iconic Peeta moment: This cute cat who is very well-behaved: This blessed margarita moment: And finally, Mr. Perfect. I hope you loved these as much as I did! Feel free to tell me what you think down below. And if you enjoyed these posts, be sure to go ahead and follow their creators; I think we're all in need of a little more wholesome content. ❤️
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
After Pahalgam, Gulmarg: Omar urges Centre to curb ‘boycott Kashmir campaign'
Day after holding a Cabinet meeting in Pahalgam, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah conducted a review meeting in Gulmarg, another prominent tourist destination in the state, on Wednesday to send a message that his government is ready to open 'Jammu and Kashmir for tourism again'. The Chief Minister urged the Centre to step in to stop the 'boycott Kashmir' campaign saying people of J&K are being punished despite them coming out to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack. While reiterating that the three power centres — elected government, Raj Bhawan and the Centre — have to work together to ensure such attacks don't happen again, Omar once again pitched for statehood saying the conversation on the demand has not stopped. Later in the day, the CM took a ride on a Gondola cable car to Kongdoori in the upper reaches of Gulmarg. 'A message should go from here that we are opening Jammu and Kashmir for tourism again,' Omar said, talking to the reporters after the meeting. 'It is obvious that after the 22nd April, everything came to a halt. People should come here again, for this I held a Cabinet meeting in Pahalgam yesterday (Tuesday) and a meeting of administrative secretaries in Gulmarg today (Wednesday). Our effort is to create a buzz at least, create publicity'. Omar said he has asked the Education minister to bring the schoolchildren to Gulmarg and Pahalgam for picnics so that 'we start to move towards normalcy'. Omar, once again, batted for re-opening of the tourist destinations that were closed for the tourists and the locals after the Pahalgam attack. 'I know, we were forced to take such steps,' he said. 'But if we have to see the revival of tourism, we will have to slowly review this (decision)'. The UT government had issued several circulars barring the valley schools from going to picnic spots on weekdays and allowed on other days only after seeking permission from the government, which has created anger in the Valley. Responding to a question of 'Kashmir boycott' calls from certain quarters, Omar said the Centre must step in to stop it. 'There is a big difference between the earlier attacks and this (Pahalgam) attack. This time the people spontaneously came out and condemned it. No political, social or religious leader can claim credit for this (spontaneous protests in J&K over the Pahalgam incident),' Omar said. 'Even after this, if you punish them, call for a boycott, forgive me, who will come out to condemn, if god forbid, such an attack happens again. Even after condemning this, if we are still seen as being responsible, what can we do? The Central government shouldn't ignore it, they should use their agencies to stop this campaign,' Omar said. He, however, said that the demand for the return of statehood has not stopped. 'If you see the formal speech that was circulated in the NITI Ayog meeting, you will see a categorical mention of the return of statehood. The conversation on statehood has not been stalled,' he said. 'The only thing is that I was unwilling to use the special session of the Assembly to ask for statehood but that doesn't mean the conversation has stopped'. At Gulmarg, Omar reviewed the performance of different departments. Besides the cabinet ministers, the meeting was attended by top civil and police officers. At the meeting, Omar told the officers that during the NITI Ayog meeting, he urged the Centre that the meetings of parliamentary consultative committee, parliamentary standing committee and that of public sector undertakings should be held in J&K to help revive tourism. Some of the Union ministers gave a positive response to his appeal, he said.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Congressional Dems ask judge to extend whistleblower case against UnitedHealth
More than two dozen Democrats in Congress, including U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, are asking a federal judge to let a whistleblower lawsuit move forward that alleges profiteering through the unlawful use of medical coding data by Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. The lawmakers argue in their May 15 court filing that a jury should be allowed to pass judgment on company practices the U.S. Department of Justice alleges have wrongfully inflated corporate earnings from the Medicare Advantage (MA) program by billions of dollars at taxpayer expense. A special master who examined the evidence recommended earlier this year that the long-running whistleblower lawsuit should be terminated via summary judgment. "It's way past time to rein in the wasteful and harmful practices committed by corporate health insurers in MA starting with UnitedHealthcare," Omar said in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune. "I joined the amicus brief to finally hold them accountable for stealing money from taxpayers and abusing the Medicare Advantage program." The lawsuit, which the Justice Department joined as a plaintiff in 2017, argues UnitedHealth Group engaged in one-sided reviews of medical charts to find evidence supporting higher payments for the company, but failed to use the same techniques to fix billing codes that would tend to lower the company's fees. In a statement, UnitedHealth Group pointed to a March report from a court-appointed special master that concluded the Justice Department's extensive efforts thus far had not recorded evidence of overpayments or wrongdoing by the company. Medicare Advantage is a privatized version of the federal health insurance program for seniors, where beneficiaries receive government-funded benefits via private insurance companies that manage the network of doctors and hospitals members can visit. UnitedHealth Group operates UnitedHealthcare, which runs the nation's largest MA plan. UnitedHealth notes that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides extensive oversight of the program. "As evidenced by the recently released risk adjustment validation audits, our results continue to demonstrate the accuracy of our coding and the integrity of our practices," the company said in a statement to the Star Tribune. "It is unfortunate to see politically motivated attempts by longtime opponents of Medicare Advantage trying to extend a case that has been thoroughly reviewed and found to lack merit." In her March 3 ruling, Special Master Suzanne Segal found a "complete failure of evidence" from the Justice Department to support key aspects of its lawsuit, and wrote of the company's practices: "There simply was no fraud." "The money at issue is alleged overpayments the government claims United received as a result of submitting allegedly invalid diagnosis codes in connection with the Medicare Advantage program," Segal wrote. "The fatal flaw in the government's case is the complete absence of evidence of such overpayments, an essential element of the government's claim." The Justice Department said in April that Segal's conclusions were " fundamentally flawed," arguing a federal court in California should let the litigation proceed. Judge Fernando Olguin will consider the special master's report at a hearing scheduled for June 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It will be a pivotal moment in a case that dates back to 2011, when Benjamin Poehling, a former director of finance for UnitedHealth Group in Minnesota, filed his original whistleblower complaint. In Medicare Advantage, the government pays health insurers a per-member, per-month up-front payment to cover the cost of health care needs for beneficiaries, including higher fees for sicker populations. Health plans can increase their pay by submitting "risk adjustment" data on patients likely to need more care. The Justice Department argues that medical coding professionals hired by UnitedHealth reviewed charts to find data that would support higher payments to the company, but systematically ignored information that would have lowered fees from the government. "United cannot have it both ways," the lawmakers wrote in their amicus brief filed with the court. "It cannot argue, on one hand, that chart review is error prone and may be too complex to consistently identify unsupported codes, while simultaneously maintaining that its additional codes (and associated payments) are justifiable." The filing referenced the considerable scrutiny UnitedHealth has faced in recent years for its business practices in Medicare Advantage, including a 2023 report from the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The watchdog agency found UnitedHealth was the biggest user among insurers of questionable diagnosis data to boost Medicare Advantage payments. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported the Justice Department had launched a criminal fraud investigation of Medicare billing practices at UnitedHealth. "United is the world's most egregious upcoder and chief among the private MA insurers employing fraudulent and abusive tactics to retain funds that rightfully belong either in the Medicare Trust Funds or in the hands of the American taxpayers," the lawmakers said in their filing. Last week, Judge Olguin ordered UnitedHealth Group to file its response to the lawmakers' amicus brief by Friday. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Omar Abdullah renews call for J&K statehood
Omar Abdullah SRINAGAR: CM Omar Abdullah renewed Wednesday demand for restoring statehood to J&K, saying political discourse around reversing Union territory status remains active and ongoing. 'Conversation around statehood hasn't died down,' Omar said after chairing a meeting of administrative secretaries in Gulmarg. 'A recent Niti Aayog document, also shared with the PM and members of Aayog, categorically mentioned restoring statehood to J&K. ' Omar, however, opposed the suggestion of convening a special assembly session to push the demand. 'That's the only point I disagreed on,' he said. Parliament repealed Article 370 on Aug 5, 2019, ending J&K's special status, and govt restructured the region into two Union territories — including Ladakh. Regional parties widely opposed the move and restoration has remained a consistent political demand in J&K. Omar also pushed efforts to revive tourism in Kashmir following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that halted visitor activity across the region. 'Tourism stopped completely after April 22. Before expecting tourists from rest of country, we must go ourselves,' he said, referencing back-to-back official meetings in Pahalgam and Gulmarg this week. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo He urged schools and colleges to resume excursions to tourist spots 'to move a little towards normalcy'. Omar also demanded investigation into rising calls on social media to boycott Kashmir, calling such campaigns unjustified. 'People of J&K strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack. After April 22, Kashmiris came out saying loudly, 'Not in our name',' he said. He urged Union govt to deploy intelligence agencies to trace origins of boycott calls. 'The attack wasn't carried out by Kashmiris, nor did anyone force tourists out. If, even after that, blame continues, what more are Kashmiris expected to do?' he asked. The CM highlighted need for coordination among three 'power centres' — J&K's elected govt, LG's office, and Union government — to ensure safety. 'I can build infrastructure and promote tourism, but security is under LG's jurisdiction,' he said. 'We must collaborate so April 22 doesn't repeat.'
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Malaysia's very own neo-psychedelic band Ramayan are going mainstream with new experimental album, 'Ini adalah ujian transmisi'
While their name may not often echo through the halls of the mainstream, Ramayan has long stood as a cornerstone of Malaysia's alternative music scene. Over a decade since their formation, the neo-psychedelic band now presents their most honest and experimental work to date, a studio album titled 'Ini Adalah Ujian Transmisi'. A bold collaboration between two prominent forces in the Malaysian music industry — Luncai Emas and Sony Music Malaysia — this album marks a powerful shift in Ramayan's creative journey. It is a declaration: a signal has been sent, carrying with it sounds that are bolder, brighter, and built to move both body and soul. The release of Ramayan's album marks a proud achievement in the local music landscape, as it introduces an experimental approach and retro-psychedelic nuances in their music. As everyone knows, Luncai Emas is a record label that embraces all music genres, and this collaboration with Sony Music Malaysia opens up a new dimension in Ramayan's artistic journey. The band hopes that Sony Music Malaysia will help elevate their musical identity onto a broader international stage. With this new album release, it is also hoped that the fresh sounds and styles introduced by Ramayan will gain greater acceptance, especially among younger listeners. Luncai Emas also hopes that this collaboration with Sony Music Malaysia will create new marketing opportunities. From Neo-Psychedelic Roots To Disco Landscapes Formed in 2014, Ramayan began as a five-piece band. Today, Pi'e, Que, Omar, and newest member Izzat carry the torch — preserving the band's signature spirit while evolving its sound. This album is the third chapter in Ramayan's journey, one that sees the band stepping confidently into a new sonic dimension. Ini Adalah Ujian Transmisi is more than a title — it is a metaphorical radar pulse, capturing frequencies from beyond the familiar. The album explores a harmonious blend between neo-psychedelia and disco, offering a musical experience that is more accessible, more immersive, and in their own words — easier to dance to. The Ramayan -- (from left) Pie (vocal), Omar (bass), Que (keyboard/synth) dan Izzat (guitar) 11 Songs, One Pulse The tracks within this album are not fragments of a chronological tale, but they are all born of the same spirit — a spirit that seeks to convey the human experience in a way that is epic yet light, deep yet refreshing. These songs are like pieces of a mirror, and when assembled, they reflect the face of an era — a time where reality and dreams intertwine. Tracklist: 1. Ujian Transmisi I: Persona Rupawan; 2. Gadis Berbaju Merah' ; 3. Disko Kelana, 4. Panggilan Hangat. Cita Asmara, 7. Jangan Biar (feat. Lunadira); 8. Samudera; 9. Sinfonietta 396; 10. Tayangan Perdana; 11. Ujian Transmisi II: Rewang Each track presents a unique sonic approach, including a standout collaboration with talented female singer Lunadira on 'Jangan Biar.' The album also features rising young producer Faliq Mohd (FLQ), previously known from the electronic duo Pastel Lite. Crafted Organically, Delivered Honestly Nearly two years in the making, Ini Adalah Ujian Transmisi is the product of time not measured in deadlines, but in moments of inspiration. The music emerged organically — not forced into schedules, but allowed to unfold at its own rhythm. "We never really had a fixed plan," the band shares. "Sometimes a song would arrive in its rawest form — we'd keep it, let it sit — and when the moment was right, we'd breathe new life into it.' Dancing In A New Light With a more open sound and rhythm that invites movement, Ramayan is no longer afraid to step beyond the confines of genre. They have not abandoned their psychedelic roots, but have enriched them with new elements that bridge genres and emotions, and onto the dancefloor. "We're still the same Ramayan," they affirm. "Only this time, we want to make people dance." Ramayan's Hope: Uniting Frequencies Through 'Ini Adalah Ujian Transmisi' Ramayan does not come bearing empty promises. They come with hope — that this album will break boundaries. That the line between indie and mainstream should no longer exist. That music, when honest, beautiful, and full of feeling, deserves to be celebrated by all. "We want to spark a new wave in Malaysian music — where there is no longer a divide between indie and mainstream. We want our music to invite people to celebrate life just as it is, without needing to become someone else." Now Streaming On All Digital Platforms 'Ini Adalah Ujian Transmisi' album is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and more. A limited physical edition of the album will also be released for fans and collectors. Credits Album : 'Ini Adalah Ujian Transmisi' Artist : Ramayan Composers : Syafii Nasir, Omar Saifuddin, Naquiyuddin Azeem & Izzat Latif Lyricists : Syafii Nasir, Omar Saifuddin, Naquiyuddin Azeem & Izzat Latif Producer : Luncai Emas Sdn. Bhd.
