News Headlines - 05 March 2021

▽Tennessee joint operation recovers 150 missing kids | Fox News

A total of 150 missing children from Tennessee have been recovered during a months-long joint law enforcement operation, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) on Wednesday.
Authorities said the missing children -- ranging in age from 3 to 17 -- were recovered during three sweeps across the state in January and February.
At least one child was identified as a human trafficking victim. Four others are possible human trafficking victims, the TBI said in the release.

▽John McAfee indicted on cryptocurrency fraud charges

Federal prosecutors on Friday accused antivirus software company founder John McAfee and his associate of orchestrating fraudulent schemes to rake in millions of dollars from cryptocurrency investors.
McAfee, 75, and his “cryptocurrency team” advisor Jimmy Watson, 40, allegedly engaged in an “age-old pump-and-dump scheme,” FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a press release announcing the indictment in Manhattan federal court.
McAfee, who presents a larger-than-life online persona and has twice run for president, is currently being held in Spain, where he faces separate criminal tax evasion charges... In 2019, he was ordered to pay $25 million in damages over the killing of a former neighbor in Belize in 2012.

▽Banksy confirms Reading Prison mural as his latest work | Reading Chronicle

The prison wall has been the subject of speculation since the early hours of Monday morning (March 1) after the image appeared overnight.
The new artwork depicts a prisoner escaping from the gaol using a rope of bed sheets tied to a typewriter - prompting many to link the image to famous inmate Oscar Wilde.
Banksy has this afternoon (March 4) uploaded a video him creating the work to his verified social media page on Instagram - seemingly signalling the Reading mural to be his own work.

▽Training camps, torch relay face challenges | NHK WORLD

The countdown to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics continues amid ongoing concerns about the pandemic. But at the same time, a growing number of municipalities across Japan are abandoning their plans to host training camps for foreign athletes... The coronavirus is also complicating the torch relay that is set to begin on March 25. Organizers want to avoid crowds. So they're adjusting certain legs of the journey -- especially for celebrity runners... Apart from celebrities, more than 30 torchbearers have dropped out.

▽Twelve new female executives named for Tokyo 2020 committee | The Japan Times

The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee’s councilors announced 12 new female members for the committee’s executive board Wednesday, including Sydney Olympic marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi and Paralympic Alpine skier Kuniko Obinata.
The 12 new members bring the number of women on the 45-member board to 19, raising female participation to above the 40% target set by the committee’s new president Seiko Hashimoto... In concert with these nominations, the number of seats on the executive board was expanded from 35 to 45.